Bobby Voelker Expects to Get the Best of Rare MMA Trilogy at Strikeforce Challengers 17

Bobby Voelker cracking on Roger Bowling at Strikeforce Challengers 11

While boxing has long had a great tradition of trilogies throughout the ages, MMA still being relatively new, has few. For Bobby Voelker and Roger Bowling, Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers 17 event in Las Vegas will give them an opportunity to make their own trilogy history.

“I think it’s a really cool thing to have on my resume,” said Voelker. “Just the fact that you’ve got a war going on with another individual; he had a good first win in the first one, I had a good win in the second fight, and now it’s time to finalize it.”

After losing their first fight in May of last year via unanimous decision, Voelker came back in October, getting a second round TKO victory.

With two fights against Bowling already, Voelker told MMAWeekly.com that he won’t be caught off guard on Friday night.

“I feel like I’m ready for him again,” said Voelker. “I’m sure he’s changed a few things to bring something new to the table this fight, so I’m ready for whatever he’s bringing.

“If he doesn’t change anything up, I’m ready for it; if he does change some things up, I’m prepared for that too. It’s always good to think ahead, rather than go into a fight and not be ready for something.”

It comes as no surprise that Voelker hopes for a repeat of their last fight, and is preparing for their rubber match as such.

“I worked mainly on what I worked on the second fight, so I can perform like I did in the second fight,” he said.

“I kind of figured that he’d change some things up, so we had to figure what we’d change up and adjust things a little more to what we thought he’d do differently. It’s pretty much the same style we had in the second fight, plus a few extra things.”

With the sale of Strikeforce to UFC owners Zuffa, Voelker was asked if he felt the need to perform well not only to win, but also to impress the new ownership. He answered, “Absolutely; it’s real important to impress the new bosses.

“You really have to stand out. There’s so many fighters in the UFC and Strikeforce, so you really have to do something to stand out to further your career. That’s definitely the plan.”

And while he’s a veteran of over 30 fights, Voelker feels that his best days are still ahead of him.

“I haven’t even hit my prime yet,” said the 32-year-old. “I want to keep training and get better and better.

“This next year I want to fight some of the bigger names. I trained hard for Roger – and he’s a great guy, and I’m not looking past him by any means – but I plan on winning of course. After him, I’m ready to fight some of the bigger names in the 170 weight class.”

Friday night at The Palms, Voelker will be looking to make some personal history and use that to springboard himself towards bigger things in the remainder of 2011.

“Just watch Strikeforce Challengers 17 this Friday from Las Vegas,” he closed out. “It’s going to be a crazy, exciting night with great fights. Of course, with Roger and myself are planning to put on an incredible show again.”