UFC Fight Night 27's Roger Bowling swears off tough-guy gym antics

UFC lightweight Roger Bowling‘s punching power didn’t come out of nowhere. He honed it for hours in the gym. 

It’s worked wonders for his career as a professional MMA fighter. Seven of his 15 wins have come by way of TKO or KO. Promoters, including the UFC, call on him expecting a slugfest. Often, he delivers a knockout. 

Other times, he’s on the receiving end of one. In his most recent fight, Bowling took on Anthony Njokuani and suffered a second-round knockout. 

“I felt like I was winning that fight with Anthony, and I should have been a little smarter,” Bowling told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

While brawling is what’s brought him to the spotlight, Bowling is considering a different approach to fights, and it’s one that might save his brain in the long run. 

For better and for worse, Bowling (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who meets Abel Trujillo (10-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 27, also picked up a habit in the gym: sparring without protecting his brain. 

“I didn’t know any better,” he said. “I was sparring with top-notch boxers, and they weren’t wearing headgear.”

But that’s changing. Bowling now sees a neurologist on a regular basis and said that he’ll hang up his gloves if he gets word that his profession is taking a toll on his brain. 

The new outlook comes at a downturn in his career in which he’s lost his past two fights. If he’s unable to beat Trujillo, he’s likely to face a pink slip from the UFC. 

But no job is worth brain damage.

“If something is wrong, I’m not one of those guys who’s going to risk traumatic injury to my head for the sport,” Bowling said. “It will be turn the lights off if that’s the case.

“The days of going in the gym trying to be the tough guy all the time and spar with no headgear and stupid stuff like that, those days are over for me. I’ve got to be smarter and make sure I don’t get hurt in training or injure my head coming into the fight.”

As he readies himself for Trujillo, whom he meets on the Facebook-streamed preliminary card, he’s not only watching his diet, but the number of days he spars hard with teammates. 

“It’s just being smarter and taking care of my body,” he said.

Bowling believes he might also have better luck at Indianapolis’ Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, where the event takes place. He said he’s fought several times in Indiana to good results. 

The 31-year-old fighter is angry at himself for getting caught by a punch from Njokuani at UFC on FOX 7, and he’s determined to be the one doling out punishment. 

“Hopefully, my best years are to come,” Bowling said. 

If anything, he may have more of them now that he’s not battering his head every day. 

For more on UFC Fight Night 27, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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