Roger Bowling (born May 8, 1982) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

currently competing in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division. A professional competitor since 2007, Bowling competed for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

Background

Bowling was born and raised in the small village of

Neville, Ohio Neville is a village in Clermont County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 87 at the 2020 census. History Neville was laid out in 1808, and named for Gen. Presley Neville, the original owner of the town site. A post ...

, and is the oldest of three siblings. Bowling's early life was difficult as his father was a drug addict who was often in and out of jail while Bowling's mother had to work two jobs, which including driving a school bus, to support the family. Bowling was athletic playing sports such as football and baseball, but his athletic activities were limited by a lack of transportation. He attended Felicity Franklin Highschool. He was frequently suspended or expelled from highschool for picking fights and had been looking forward to leave the town. When he was 18 years old he went to live with his girlfriend and go to Grant vocational school to learn welding. Bowling has a background in amateur

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

with an undefeated 9-0 record, having competed and dominated his opponents in

Toughman The Toughman Contest, founded in 1979 in Bay City, Michigan by late boxing promoter Art Dore (1936-2022), is a chance for the novice amateur boxers (those with no more than five sanctioned wins in the past five years) to test themselves in the ...

-like competitions. Bowling later joined a gym where he was introduced him to

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After joining the MMA gym, Bowling had his first fight against an opponent who, at 6'6, towered over the 5'9 Bowling. Despite the huge size disadvantage, Bowling won the bout and broke his opponent's nose. Bowling competed as a

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

for all of his amateur fights, and held an amateur record of 3-1. From 2007 to 2009, Bowling built his career fighting for the MMA Big Show, a regional promotion known for pitting up and comers against

veterans to springboard talent. He earned the Welterweight Championship and carried the belt until MMA Big Show promoter and manager Jason Appleton signed Bowling to a three-year deal with

. On June 20, 2009 Bowling was set to fight the controversial former

War Machine, formerly known as

Jon Koppenhaver War Machine (born Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver, November 30, 1981) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, former pornographic actor, and incarcerated felon. He currently is serving a life sentence for multiple counts of rape, ki ...

. However Bowling broke his hand a couple of weeks before the event and was not cleared to fight. The two agreed to fight later in the year. Before the rescheduled match up, Roger defeated Devon Plaisance via TKO in July 2009. Bowling was again set to fight War Machine in the main event of XFC 9 in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

on September 5, however, Bowling was again forced to withdraw due to injury.

Strikeforce

In October 2009, Bowling signed with

. He was set to make his debut in November 2009, but was forced to withdraw because of an injury. Bowling subsequently made his debut in May 2010 on the Strikeforce Challengers: Lindland vs. Casey card against

Bobby Voelker Robert "Bobby" James Voelker (born April 26, 1979) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in their Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Voelker has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator MMA, Strikef ...

. Bowling dominated the first two rounds, but was unable to stop Voelker. The fight ended controversially as it was stopped in the third round due to an unintentional eye injury. Per the rules, the fight went to the judges' scorecards and Bowling was awarded a unanimous decision win. Bowling and Voelker had a rematch in the main event of the Strikeforce Challengers: Bowling vs. Voelker card on October 22, 2010. After controlling the action in the first round, demonstrating his speed and striking advantage, Bowling lost the fight in the second round via TKO (strikes), after being hurt by Voelker's

ground and pound Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

technique, and was given his first professional loss. Bowling and Voelker fought for a third time at Strikeforce Challengers: Voelker vs. Bowling III to create Strikeforce's first trilogy. Once again, Voelker won the fight via TKO in the second round. Bowling next faced Jerron Peoples at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on December 17, 2011. Despite Peoples weighing in nearly 10 pounds heavy, Bowling won the fight via

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

at just under a minute in the first round. On March 3, 2012, Bowling faced Brandon Saling at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

and won via TKO in the second round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In January 2013, the Strikeforce organization was closed by its parent company

Zuffa Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the ...

. A list of fighters scheduled to be brought over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship was released in mid-January and Bowling was one of the fighters listed. Bowling made his UFC and

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

debut against

Anthony Njokuani Anthony Obinna Njokuani (born March 1, 1980) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor since 2001, Njokuani has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, and ONE Championship. Background B ...

on April 20, 2013 at

UFC on Fox 7 The year 2013 is the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with ''UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping''. 2013 also saw the introduction of the wome ...

. He lost via second-round knockout. Bowling faced

Abel Trujillo Abel Nazario Trujillo (born September 18, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Trujillo attended Ri ...

on August 28, 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 27 ''UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 27'') was a mixed martial arts event held on August 28, 2013, at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Backg ...

. The fight ended in controversial fashion as Trujillo landed what appeared to be an illegal knee to the face of Bowling at the end of round two. With Bowling unable to continue, the referee deemed the bout a no contest. In a post-fight interview with

Ariel Helwani Ariel Helwani (born July 8, 1982) is a Canadian-American sports journalist, known for his coverage of mixed martial arts (MMA). He is best known for his work at ''MMA Fighting'', but has also worked for Fox and ESPN. Helwani is widely considered ...

, Bowling was upset as he felt he had been winning the fight until the illegal knee, and wanted a rematch with Trujillo. A rematch with Trujillo took place on December 14, 2013 at

UFC on Fox 9 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. Bowling lost via TKO in the second round, and was released from the promotion shortly after the fight.

Personal life

Bowling is married and has a daughter. Aside from professional fighting, he works for an engineering company that builds custom machinery.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

*American Fight League **American Fight League Amateur Middleweight Championship (One time) *Caged Inferno **Caged Inferno Amateur Middleweight Championship (One time) *MMA Big Show **MMA Big Show Welterweight Championship (One time) *Revolution Fight League **Revolution Fight League Welterweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Medicine Hat, Alberta Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are within ...

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Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

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Tarec Saffiedine Tarec Robert Saffiedine (born 6 September 1986) is a Belgian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Saffiedine has also f ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

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Seth Baczynski Seth Baczynski (born October 26, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter currently competing in the Middleweight (MMA), Middleweight division. A professional since 2006, Baczynski has formerly competed for the UFC, and ...

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Shamar Bailey Shamar Bailey is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bailey has formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, M-1 Global, and was a competitor on T ...

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References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowling, Roger 1982 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Ohio Lightweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male boxers Boxers from Ohio People from Clermont County, Ohio