Strikeforce welterweight ‘Vicious’ Bobby Voelker (24-8) will meet someone named other than Roger Bowling next month when he faces Nan-Shon ‘The Rock-N-Rolla’ Burrell (8-1) at the upcoming Strikeforce event in San Jose. Voelker has faced Bowling three times in his last four matches.
The announcement was made Monday, along with several other bouts including the Grand Prix Heavyweight Final between Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier, and a lightweight title bout featuring champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson who will square off for the third time in their careers.
Strikeforce 40 (till an official event designator is made) is expected to take place on May 19, 2012 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The main card will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) while the prelim card will air live on Showtime Extrememe at 8 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on West Coast).
Voelker has won three straight including back-to-back matches with Roger Bowling. Their last meeting took place in July of last year, ending the way their second fight went, with ‘Vicious’ winning by second round TKO. The other win in that run includes a split decision over Cory Devela in July 2010.
Burrell is on a bit of a tear of his own winning six straight including three inside the Strikeforce cage. His last fight took place in January of this year, where he earned a split decision over James Terry. His other wins under the Strikeforce banner include a TKO finish of Lukasz Les last August and a decision win over Joe Ray last June.