Dana White on UFC 168’s Bobby Voelker: ‘He’s 0-3, and he’s not going anywhere’

Bobby Voelker hasn’t won a fight in 27 months, and he’s winless in three UFC tries. But for now, his job is secure.

At Saturday’s UFC 168 event, Voelker (24-11 MMA, 0-3 UFC) fought through a leaky nose, blood-splattered eyes and a storm of fists from fellow welterweight William Macario (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to hang on for three rounds. He suffered a lopsided decision loss via 30-27 scores, but it seemed a footnote to otherwise gritty performance.

The preliminary-card bout, which concluded the night’s MMAjunkie stream from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, left a shower of blood on the cage’s canvas, which could be seen for the nine bouts that followed. But though he had every opportunity to call it quits, the 34-year-old Kansan soldiered on.

Voelker’s now dropped three straight, including a UFC-debut decision loss to Patrick Cote and a short-notice TKO defeat to upcoming title challenger Robbie Lawler. Despite his skid, though, UFC President Dana White assured Voelker he has job security.

“He’s 0-3, and he’s not going anywhere,” White said after the event. “He took the Robbie Lawler fight on short notice, and tonight he was busted up and keeps moving forward, keeps trying to win.”

Even Macario gave his opponent a vote of confidence.

“He hurt his hand trying to knock him out, so he feels from this point forward that no one is going to be able to knock the guy out,” Macario’s translator said after the bout.

Helping Voelker’s cause is a five-fight stint in Strikeforce, where he went 4-1 before moving to the UFC. The lone loss during his Strikeforce run came in an injury-shortened bout with Roger Bowling, whom Voelker ended up beating twice in subsequent meetings.

In that three-fight series, Voelker displayed the toughness that earned him a UFC contract. It’s also earned him a reprieve for now.

“We don’t cut guys like that,” White said.

For complete coverage of UFC 168, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.