Outside The Cage Roger Bowling Makes His StrikeForce Debut
T.J.'s News - Outside the Cage
Roger Bowling Makes His StrikeForce Debut
7-0 MMA Big Show Champion "Relentless' Roger Bowling will be making his Strikeforce debut. Friday May 21st, Roger will be facing 21-7 Bobby Voelker at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, OR. This event wiill be LIVE on Showtime.
From StrikeForce.com
ROGER BOWLING vs. BOBBY VOELKER
“Relentless” ROGER BOWLING
RECORD: 7-0 (0-0 in STRIKEFORCE competition)
WINS: (T)KOS: 5 SUBMISSIONS: 2 DECISIONS: 0
LOSSES: (T)KOS: 0 SUBMISSIONS: 0 DECISIONS: 0
CAMP AND MMA BACKGROUND: Bowling fights out of Team Vision in Cincinnati, Ohio under the direction of Rod Housley with T.J. Ball, WEC veteran Justin McElfresh, Victor O’Donnell, Jordan Sullivan, Dustin Winterhalt and some-time visitor TUF veteran Luke Zachrich. A former amateur boxer, Bowling also trains at the facility next door to Team Vision with boxing coach Rob Radford but Roger focuses on Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing to round out his fight game.
WORTHY OF NOTE: Bowling works in the field of engineering making custom machinery. He is the current MMA Big Show Welterweight Champion, the Revolution Fight League Welterweight Champion, the AFL Middleweight Champion (amateur) and the Caged Inferno Middleweight Champion (amateur). There is an on-going war of words with TUF and UFC veteran “War Machine” John Koppenhaver that will hopefully finds its way to a cage sometime soon. The fight has been postponed twice, most recently when Moore had broken knuckles from a fight with Devon Plaisance.
KEYS TO HIS GAME: Bowling likes to pick up opponents and slam them in guard. He will fights off submission attempts rather power out (a wrestling trait) and uses all of his weapons (including knees to the kidney and back) to inflict bodily harm. He has also pounded out opponents from the mount with good old G’n’P to finish fights.
BOBBY VOELKER
RECORD: 21-7 (1-0 in STRIKEFORCE competition)
WINS: (T)KOS: 13 SUBMISSIONS: 3 (1 choke) DECISIONS: 4
LOSSES: (T)KOS: 2 SUBMISSIONS: 1 (armbar) DECISIONS: 4
CAMP AND MMA BACKGROUND: Voelker fights out of the American Jiu-Jitsu Academy under the direction of Brad Jones. He excelled in football and swimming in his youth, trained in boxing and kickboxing as a teenager and becoming a fighter was a natural progression. He was 15-0 as an amateur in MMA.
WORTHY OF NOTE: In his STRIKEFORCE debut Voelker got blasted early by Erik Apple with two powerful right hands. Apple had a relentless assault, picking Voelker apart for the first three minutes of round 1. Bobby showed amazing recovery and turned the tide in the last 45 seconds. He was in trouble again in the first minute of the second round but he came back on fire and landed a crushing right hand that dropped Apple to his back, basically finishing him. With 2 of his last 3 losses coming to UFC veterans, Voelker is 4-1 in his last 5, losing just once since December of 2008.
KEYS TO HIS GAME: Voelker feels he’s a bully in the cage and relies on devastating punches and knees from clinch. He has a devastating overhand right and his recovery is absolutely amazing. He can never, ever be counted out of a fight until he is rendered unconscious, face down, with the lights out.
WHAT WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE: Voelker showed in his fight with WEC veteran Erik Apple that anyone looking to take him out better pack more than a lunch. He’s a 3-meal flight if there ever was one. The “Relentless” one has not tasted defeat so he’s doing something right. The STRIKEFORCE promotion and Voelker in particular is a whole new ballgame. In his favor is the fact he’s never seen a third round. He’s only heard the bell for round 2 once and only fought 14 seconds in that contest. That says he takes care of business. But it also leaves questions about his stamina and the level of competition he’s faced. However you slice it, this is not the bout to go out for popcorn on folks
