Bobby Southworth was born in Madison, Wisconsin 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, Bobby continued to Cabrillo College and yet UC Davis, 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 academy before moving on to Gracie Systems which was formed after Cesar's cousin Ralph Gracie moved stateside. Subsequently, Ralph opened his own academy in Mountain View, California 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.
Bobby co-founded the American Kickboxing Academy Sunnyvale in 2008. In 2015, Southworth began coaching at UFC Gym Hollow Brook in San Antonio, Texas until it closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Southworth has a 10-6 record in Mixed Martial Arts and was an original cast member in Season 1 of the The Ultimate Fighter.
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