By The Canadian Press

Canadian Lance Gibson Jr. loses UFC debut but joins father in record book

Dec 13, 2025 | 10:06 PM

LAS VEGAS — Canadian (Fearless) Lance Gibson Jr. made it into the UFC record book Saturday, but didn’t get the win in a short-notice fight against veteran American King Green.

His father, Lance Sr., fought in UFC 24 and 29 in 2000, defeating Jermaine (Bam Bam) Andre and losing to Evan Tanner. The Gibsons join Randy and Ryan Couture and Gilbert and Elijah Smith as father-and-son duos to compete in the mixed martial arts promotion.

A late replacement pressed into action this week, the younger Gibson lost a 28-29, 29-28, 28-29 decision to Green on Saturday in the UFC’s final show of the year.

Gibson (9-2-0) was eating a late dinner Monday when the call came, telling him to pack his bags and be ready to jump on a plane because the UFC might need him for Saturday’s Fight Night card in Las Vegas. It was confirmed Tuesday and the 30-year-old from Port Moody, B.C., left Canada on Wednesday for his UFC debut in Nevada.

Gibson’s father and stepmother Julia (The Jewel) Budd, a former Bellator featherweight champion, were in his corner at the UFC Apex.

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

Ferland earns Grey Cup ring

'A wonderful human being': High school coach thrilled Logan Ferland is a Grey Cup champion

Nov 17, 2025

In earlier action, Squamish, B.C., flyweight Jamey-Lyn Horth stopped Czechia’s Tereza Bleda in the first round and Calgary bantamweight Melissa (Scare) Croden lost a decision to Brazil’s Luana Santos.

A fourth Canadian was scheduled for a high-profile bout Saturday but Gillian (The Savage) Robertson, ranked 10th among UFC strawweights, found herself without an opponent when Brazilian veteran Amada Lemos was withdrawn hours before the fight due to a medical issue, according to the UFC.

That fight has been postponed to March 14.

Saturday’s main event pitted American Brandon (Raw Dawg) Royval, ranked second among flyweight contenders, against No. 6 Manel (Starboy) Kape of Angola.

Because of the short notice, the Gibson-Green fight was contested at a catchweight of 160 pounds, rather than the normal 156-pound lightweight non-title limit. Both men weighed in at 158.5 pounds.

Gibson kept moving, looking to connect from range. But the unorthodox Green, who fights with his hands low while providing his own soundtrack to the bout, began to lead the dance.

The second round was paused for almost two minutes after Gibson took an accidental kick to the groin.

When the fight resumed, Gibson changed tactics and dumped Green to the ground. Green (33-17-1 with one no-contest). scrambled back to his feet, escaped a clinch at the fence and began stalking Gibson around the cage.

There was more of the same in the third round, with Gibson having difficulty getting close to Green. Both men landed takedowns with Green punishing Gibson from above as the fight ended.

Gibson went 5-1-0 in the Bellator promotion from 2019 to 2023, then asked for his release to focus on getting into the UFC. He has since won twice on local Washington state cards, while staying in shape in case a short-notice UFC call-up came along.

The 39-year-old Green, who changed his name from Bobby Green to King Green in 2024, is a veteran of 28 UFC fights, making his debut in the promotion in 2013. He was initially due to face Jai Herbert.

Robertson had hoped a win over the fifth-ranked Lemos, who was outpointed by strawweight champion Zhang Weili of China at UFC 292 in August 2023, would lead to her own title shot.

The Florida-based Canadian, originally from Niagara Falls, Ont., made the most of the cancellation, later posting a social media photo showing her smiling over an In-N-Out burger.

Horth opened the card in impressive fashion, improving her UFC record to 4-2-0.

The 35-year-old from Squamish, B.C., was coming off a June win over American Vanessa (Lil Monster) Demopoulos, who had replaced Bleda when the Czech had to drop off the Atlanta card due to illness.

The 24-year-old Bleda (7-2-0) had not fought since June 2023, during which time Horth (9-2-0) had four fights.

Bleda looked to take Horth down from the get-go. But when she failed with her first two attempts, Horth battered her with punches, driving her backwards to the fence until referee Kerry Hatley stepped in at 2:05.

“We knew that my striking was going to be a little better,” said Horth.

“We were prepared to strike and keep the distance, defend the takedowns and show everybody in the UFC that I have a right had,” she added. “And I put that to work.”

Santos, ranked 15th among 135-pound contenders, used her ground game to win a unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) decision over Croden.

The 25-year-old Santos, a black belt in judo, took Croden down with a trip in each of the three rounds, controlling the 34-year-old paramedic for much of the second and third rounds. The Brazilian improved to 5-1-0 in the UFC.

Both fighters were coming off a win over the same opponent, Brazil’s Tainara (Thai Panther) Lisboa. Santos (10-2-0) won by second-round submission in May while Croden (7-3-0) recorded a third-round TKO in October to win her UFC debut.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2025.

The Canadian Press