Bobby Green needed a win in a major, major way, and picked up a big one against Erik Koch.

Green (24-8-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Koch (15-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) in Saturday’s featured prelim. Koch got out to the quicker start, but Green was mostly masterful with a pressure-filled attack and plenty of work to the body. Green took a trio of 29-28 scores and won for the first time in more than three years.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 27 event at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX.

Green got inside and connected with heavy heands 75 seconds into the round. They forced Koch to tie things up on the fence, and with three minutes left Green broke away and got back to the center. Koch landed a right midway through the frame before the two tied up again.

But Koch worked the fight to the ground and got full mount with plenty of time left. He landed elbows, and those forced Green to give his back. Koch kept pounding to soften Green up, then tried to flatten him out. But Green stayed patient and protected his neck, then popped back to his feet. There, he landed a nice high kick with 25 seconds left that was partially blocked. He landed nice punches just before the horn to get some momentum back.

Green stayed right in the pocket with Koch in the second. They traded punches and kicks to try to open up opportunities to the head. Green’s focus was going after Koch’s body, and the strikes there started to pile up Midway through, they traded back and forth, and both were bleeding from the nose. The crowd got riled up at its highest level of the night when the two continued to go after each other with 90 seconds left.

Green landed a big right hand early in the third, and it forced Koch to come forward a little sloppily to clinch up. They broke, and Green kept pushing forward. Green went after the body again, then back up top to the head. He kicked to the body, then started to gain confidence with three minutes left. Green scooped Koch up for a takedown midway through the round, then dropped down elbows from up top. He worked over to side control and kept punishing Koch with elbows.

But Koch exploded out with 100 seconds left when Green got sloppy and tried to make something happen. He couldn’t, and Green won the scramble to get back on top, again in side control with about a minute left. Although Green couldn’t get the finish, he finished the round on top to close things out.

Green finally got back in the win column for the first time in three and a half years. After a split-decision win over Josh Thomson, he had three straight losses and a draw before his win over Koch. Koch lost for the second straight time and has setbacks in three of his past four fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 27 results include:

• Bobby Green def. Erik Koch via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Mirsad Bektic def. Godofredo Pepey via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:47
• Katlyn Chookagian def. Mara Romero Borella via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Randa Markos def. Juliana Lima via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Ji Yeon Kim def. Justine Kish via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Vinc Pichel def. Joaquim Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Niko Price def. George Sullivan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:21
• Cory Sandhagen def. Austin Arnett via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:48

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 27, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Charlotte.)