Roger Bowling vs. Bobby Voelker II

Five months after an eye injury led to an anti-climatic decision finish to their first bout, Roger Bowling and Bobby Voelker re-matched at Strikeforce Challengers 11 in the main event. While the first match was competitive, oddsmakers listed Bowling as the heavy favorite to defeat Voelker.

Bowling came out aggressively with punches and scored a takedown. Voelker got back to his feet where Bowling pressed forward with a more diverse striking attack than he had displayed in their first encounter, mixing in low kicks, high kicks and punches. The latter half of the round was contested in the clinch, leading to questions from commentators Pat Miletich and Stephen Quadros as to why Bowling did not stick to a kickboxing gameplan.

Voelker started the second round more effectively and used his reach advantage to good effect in the standing exchanges. Bowling's strikes and takedown attempts became more telegraphed, enabling Voelker to land a number of damaging blows, stunning his opponent. Voelker punished Bowling with over a minute of ground and pound. Bowling had no answers off his back and referee Dan Stell jumped in to save him from more damage.

"I've never lost a rematch, it's not gonna happen... I trained morning, day and night. I came in prepared." explained Voelker in the post-fight interview with Mauro Ranallo.