BOWLING Wins SF Debut
BOWLING AND SAFFIEDINE DRAW RAVE REVIEWS AT PORTLAND STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS ON SHOWTIME®
Friday’s fights will re-air tonight, Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHO 2. The telecast will also be available On Demand beginning Wednesday, May 26 through Tuesday, June 8.
NEW YORK (May 25, 2010) – Two young fighters emerged as Rising Stars and future world title contenders after impressive wins at last Friday’s Portland Strikeforce Challengers event on SHOWTIME®. Roger Bowling and Tarec Saffiedine both posted victories that drew accolades from media and industry analysts.
Bowling improved to 8-0 after facing his toughest opponent to date in Bobby Voelker. Unfortunately for fight fans, the fight ended prematurely after Bowling was accidentally poked in the eye at 3:33 of the third round. He was awarded the victory via unanimous technical decision (29-28 on all cards).
The Portland fans booed not the decision but for the simple fact that they weren’t going to be able to watch any more of the frenetic, non-stop action.
“Even though it ended up being a pyrrhic victory, the now 8-0 Roger Bowling has all the ingredients to be a huge star in the sport,” said SHOWTIME play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo. “His fan friendly style makes him a made-for-television talent in the welterweight division.”
Michael David Smith in his article “Strikeforce Has a Star It Can Build On In Bowling” on MMAFighting.com, a division of AOL Fanhouse, wrote Cincinnati’s Bowling, who has only fought on small cards in the Midwest, may be a star in the making: “Bowling (has) dominated everyone he’s ever faced. Bowling isn’t ready for the very top of Strikeforce’s welterweight division — he’ll need at least another year of seasoning before I’d give him any chance against Nick Diaz — but he’s ready for almost every welterweight on the Strikeforce roster other than its champion. Whether they put him on their Challengers cards or on their bigger Saturday night cards, Strikeforce needs to keep putting Bowling in the cage and on TV.”
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said Friday’s Challengers event featured a ton of outstanding, fast-paced action from some of MMA’s brightest up and coming talent. “We saw two potentially great forces emerge in our welterweight division with Tarec Saffiedine and Roger Bowling,” Coker said. “Both Tarec and Roger displayed incredible determination and exceptional striking skills and I think they have a bright future in Strikeforce.”
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May 27, 2010Posted By
Jason AppletonYou made everyone extremely proud Roger. You are a born Champion and the world just got a taste of whats to come.
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