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Bowling Believes He Can KO Voelker to End Trilogy

Roger Bowling hasn’t made a big deal about it, but apparently he broke his leg less than a minute into his October 2010 rematch against Bobby Voelker.

“I broke my leg early in the first round,” Bowling (Pictured) acknowledged when asked about the injury on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “… It kind of took the pep out of my step. For the first time in my career, I had to refocus, or try to refocus, and take my mind off of it, which didn’t really work out to my favor. But it was definitely a good experience for me. I wouldn’t take it back. I wouldn’t take it back if I could. It was definitely a good lesson.”

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Bowling survived the first round and made it deep into the second before Voelker stopped him with punches at 3:58. It was a gusty effort to make it that long, though he still picked up the first loss of his career.

“It felt like it wasn’t necessarily the pain or anything. It just kind of took me off my game plan,” Bowling said of the injury. “I’m an explosive fighter, and it kind of took that away from me. It slowed me down a lot. I wasn’t able to move and hit my angles as well, especially in the second round when the swelling and the pressure started.”

That Strikeforce Challengers 11 bout evened the score between the two, with Bowling having won the first meeting via technical decision in May 2010. Now the rubber match is set for Friday at Strikeforce “Challengers 17.”

“I don’t think there’s a rivalry,” said Bowling, who requested the fight. “I think people just like seeing us fight. He’s a tough guy. I’m a tough guy. We’re both going to bring it Friday.”

Despite how frequently they encounter each other in the cage, Bowling found himself hanging out with Voelker outside the cage too at the Zuffa-run fighter summit in Las Vegas in May.

“I think he’s a great guy,” Bowling said. “As an opponent, he’s a guy that you can’t take lightly. He’s got a heart as big as Ohio and a really solid chin. He’s a tough opponent for anybody.”

Bowling knows from experience that Voelker is tough to finish. He believes he can knock him out, but regardless he plans on pushing the pace from the opening bell.

“He’s just one of those hardnosed guys,” Bowling said. “It’s going to take the right punch to knock him out. I’ve fought guys before where you hit them hard and they curl up and they want out of the fight because they realize how hard you hit. Bobby’s not one of those guys. Bobby’s somebody that you’re going to have to put out -- put out cold. It can definitely be done. I’m not going to sit here and promise you that I’m going to do that, but I’m sure the hell going to try.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 47:00).

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