Bobby Masai Southworth (born December 16, 1969)Mixed martial arts show results Date: April 9, 2005
/ref> is a retired American mixed martial artist who fought in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division. He has fought in PRIDE FC and appeared on Season 1 of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

. He was the first Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion.

Background

Southworth was born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

and was adopted when he was six weeks old. Southworth has three sisters. He grew up in Santa Cruz, California playing football and basketball, surfing and doing track. After graduating from

Soquel High School Soquel High School is a high school in Soquel, California, located on Old San Jose Road. It has 1,200 students and was established in 1962. The school is operated by the Santa Cruz City High School District. The school mascot is the Knights. Aca ...

, Bobby continued to Cabrillo College and yet

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, playing basketball in all of them. His initial interest towards martial arts sparked after seeing Royce Gracie at UFC 1 and UFC 2. While Bobby was looking for a sport to stay fit, his friend invited him to a jiu-jitsu class in a nearby gym. Instantly hooked to the discipline, Bobby soon joined

Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is a mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training facility located in Pleasant Hill, California and is home to numerous highly ranked mixed martial artists who compete in organizations such as the Ultimate Fighting ...

academy before moving on to Gracie Systems which was formed after Cesar's cousin

Ralph Gracie Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

moved stateside. Subsequently, Ralph opened his own academy in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

where Bobby continued teaching and training jiu-jitsu. Bobby grew interested to take a no holds barred bout which was disapproved by Ralph, leading to Bobby's departure from the academy. Subsequently Bobby joined American Kickboxing Academy which at the time had no proper Brazilian jiu-jitsu program, so he took the responsibility of teaching the discipline.

Mixed martial arts career

Southworth's first major exposure in the mixed martial arts world was when he faced Vitor Belfort on two-weeks short notice at PRIDE 13 on March 25, 2001. Southworth was overwhelmed by the Brazilian veteran and lost by rear naked choke in the first round. In late 2003, Southworth had a falling out over money with Javier Mendez and briefly retired from the sport. Still having the spark to compete, Southworth mended fences with Mendez and rejoined the academy about a year later.

Return from retirement

Southworth then appeared on Season 1 of

. He won his first preliminary fight against

Lodune Sincaid Lodune Ki Sincaid (May 7, 1973 – April 7, 2019) was an American professional mixed martial artist. He was WEC Light Heavyweight Champion in 2006, and was featured on the UFC's ''The Ultimate Fighter 1'' reality show, losing to Bobby Southwort ...

, but lost the second versus

Stephan Bonnar Stephan Patrick Bonnar (April 4, 1977 – December 22, 2022) was an American mixed martial artist. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 1, his TUF Ultimate Fi ...

by split decision. Bobby returned to the house as a possible replacement for Forrest Griffin, should he not have been medically cleared to fight in the semifinals, but Forrest's cut healed safely and Southworth did not fight again until the undercard of the finale, where he fought a man he picked on in the house Sam Hoger and was defeated. It was a unanimous decision victory for Sam Hoger.

Strikeforce

Southworth next moved to

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

, where his first fight was against James "The Sandman" Irvin. The bout was declared a No-Contest after a mere 17 seconds when in a freak accident, Southworth and Irvin's clinch pressed against the cage, pushing open the cage door and causing Irvin to fall out of the ring. In his next fight, Southworth was given the opportunity to fight for Strikeforce's vacant light heavyweight championship against Vernon "Tiger" White. Southworth won a decision victory, taking White down repeatedly and controlling the pace of the match. Southworth's next fight was a non-title bout against Anthony Ruiz, a fight that Ruiz won by way of TKO (cut) in round 2. A rematch was set up, but this time it would be for Southworth's championship. In a rather slow-paced fight, Southworth defeated Ruiz via 5-round Unanimous Decision on June 27, 2008 and thus became the only man to successfully defend the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship. In his next title defense, at Strikeforce: Destruction on November 21, 2008, Southworth lost the light heavyweight championship against former UFC Light Heavyweight fighter Renato Sobral "Babalu" by TKO (cut) of the 1st round at 5:00. Southworth was winning the round, having scored a takedown and controlling the clinch, until "Babalu" opened up a horrendous gash above Bobby's left eye with ten seconds to go. "Big" John McCarthy stopped the action to let doctors inspect, and Southworth finished the round by dropping "Babalu" with a punch just before the bell. However, when doctors got a better look at the wound between rounds, the fight was stopped due to the size and depth of the cut. Southworth announced he would like a rematch and Sobral verbally agreed, however a rematch was never organized and following Sobral's 2013 retirement it is unlikely a rematch would ever occur.

Post-Strikeforce career

Southworth also tried out for 11th season of

. However, despite the fact that both the Middleweights and Light-Heavyweights were invited to try out, the UFC decided that the season would focus exclusively on Middleweights. In the last bout of his career, Southworth faced Aaron Boyes at Xtreme MMA 2 on July 31, 2010. He won the fight via first-round knockout.

Personal life

Bobby has four children, 3 daughters and one son. Bobby co-founded the American Kickboxing Academy Sunnyvale in 2008. In 2015, Southworth began coaching at UFC Gym Hollow Brook in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

until it closed down due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Championships and accomplishments

** Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship (One time, First) **One Successful Title Defense **The only fighter to have successfully defended the Light Heavyweight Championship

Mixed martial arts record

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The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter (later designated ''The Ultimate Fighter 1'') premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters (eight light heavyweights weighing from 186 to 205 lb and eight middleweights weighing from ...

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, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3 , Brian Vanderwalle , Submission (armbar) , IFC WC 18: Big Valley Brawl , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:28 , Lakeport, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–3 , David Pa'aluhi , KO , Warriors Quest 4: Genesis , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:16 ,

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References

External links

* *
American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) Sunnyvale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southworth, Bobby Living people American male mixed martial artists African-American mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) champions American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1969 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople