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SAN JOSE, CALIF. (Sept. 13, 2010) – Five months after their initial encounter, an exciting battle that ended prematurely due to an accidental poke in the eye, “Relentless” Roger Bowling will put his unbeaten record on the line one more time against “Vicious” Bobby Voelker in a collision of welterweights (170 pounds) in the main event of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card presented by Rockstar Energy Drink at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), on Friday, Oct. 22.

Undefeated prospect and Fresno resident Billy Evangelista will make his long-awaited return to the cage when he faces Waachiim “Native Warrior’’ Spiritwolf in a 165-pound catch weight bout. Heavyweight star and Madera, Calif. native Lavar “Big” Johnson will continue his miraculous return to the sport in a matchup against an opponent to be determined.

A special pre-sale ticket purchase opportunity for the event will take place for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers (http://STRIKEFORCE.com/insider.html), beginning at 10 a.m. PT on Wednesday, Sept. 15, and ending at 10 p.m. PT. on Thursday, Sept. 16. STRIKEFORCE Insiders will receive a special e-newsletter with the pre-sale code.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 17, and will be available for purchase at the Save Mart Center box office, select Save Mart Supermarkets, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).

The 5-foot-8, 27-year-old Bowling (8-0), of Columbus, Ohio, won a unanimous three-round technical decision over the 6-foot, 31-year-old Voelker (22-8), of Kansas City, Kan., during a STRIKEFORCE Challengers presentation on May 21 in Portland, Ore., on SHOWTIME.

Bowling, who trains in Cincinnati with, ironically, Team Vision, was ahead by the scores of 29-28 on the three judges’ scorecards when an excellent, crowd-pleasing fight was halted at 1:38 of the third round after he could not continue due to an unintentional poke in the right eye he had received.

The talented, aggressive-minded Bowling entered the fight, his STRIKEFORCE debut, with high expectations and the rising star lived up to the billing and his nickname as he punished Voelker, particularly during the majority of the first two rounds.

This will be the first start since for Bowling, a pro since June 2007 who had won his seven previous fights inside the distance, six of which came in the first round.

Voelker, who was in the midst of a major rally against Bowling when the bout came to a disappointing end, has maintained a busy schedule since turning pro in February 2006. He has fought once since the Bowling match, winning a hard-fought, three-round split decision over Cory Devela last July 23 on STRIKEFORCE Challengers at Everett, Wash.

It was the eighth victory in 11 starts for the hard-trying, determined Voelker, who registered a dramatic, come-from-behind second-round TKO (punches) over Erik Apple at STRIKEFORCE: Challengers on Nov. 20, 2009, in Kansas City.

“It was unfortunate and frustrating my last fight had to finish that way,’’ Bowling said. “I felt it ruined the first couple rounds that I worked really hard for. But it was just one of those things that can happen. If you get poked in the eye, you can’t open it. And if you can’t open your eye, they’re not going to let you fight.

“Both Roger and I have great hearts and I’m looking forward to doing it again with him.’’ said Voelker, whose left eye was cut in the first. Like he did against Apple, Voelker showed an incredible chin, heart and remarkable resolve and resiliency by staging a dramatic comeback in the third stanza after absorbing an inordinate amount of punishment in the first two rounds.

At the end of the second round, a seemingly exhausted Voelker impressively managed to take down Bowling. It was still going Voelker’s way at the outset of the third as he rocked Bowling, who had never had a fight go past two rounds, with combinations.

But shortly thereafter, moments after the referee had separated the fighters when they were clinched against the cage, one of the seams on the outside of Voelker’s gloves grazed Bowling’s right eye. Unable to continue, the fight went to the scorecards and Bowling got a decision based on the strength of the first two rounds.

“It’s an unfortunate thing,’’ Voelker said. “We had a great war and we just wanted to end it with a great war in the last 3:22. Things happen, accidents happen. He wasn’t able to see and couldn’t continue. He won the first two rounds so he got the decision. There it is. We can do it again. We’ll both be back.’’

The start for Evangelista (10-0, 1 No Contest), a Muay Thai specialist, will be his first since Nov. 6, 2009, when the 5-foot-8, 29-year-old earned a unanimous decision over hard-hitting brawler Jorge Gurgel at STRIKEFORCE Challengers at Save Mart Center. An injury sustained in the bout with Gurgel has kept Evangelista sidelined.

In his outing before last on May 15, 2009, on STRIKEFORCE Challengers, Evangelista fought Mike Aina. The result was initially ruled a victory by disqualification for Aina, but it was later overturned and ruled a no contest by the California State Athletic Commission after Evangelista appealed. Replays showed Evangelista’s knee struck Aina in the shoulder, not the head, as the referee originally believed.

Spiritwolf (8-6-1), a resident of San Diego, Calif., will make his debut for STRIKEFORCE. A two-fight winning streak and three-fight unbeaten streak (2-0-1) in 2010 ended for the 5-foot-8, four-year pro when he lost a decision to Delson Heleno on Sept. 4.

A Native-American who is of Navajo and Yaqui descent, Spiritwolf registered an impressive first-round TKO over Crafton Wallace in his outing before last on May 22.

Johnson, a second-round TKO (punches) winner over then-undefeated Lolohea Mahe last March 26 in the main event of STRIKEFORCE Challengers at Save Mart Center, will be making his second start since he was gunned down while attending a family barbeque during the July 4 holiday in 2009.

The 6-foot-2, 33-year-old Johnson survived three gunshot wounds sustained during the walk-by shooting that led to the death of a cousin. A father of two boys, ages eight and five, Johnson spent 30 days in a hospital, fighting for his life, and several more months rehabilitating.

Taking all that into consideration, he was pleased with his comeback performance, “I felt great,” he said. “The whole comeback thing was rough, but I took baby steps and came along. Now, I’m ready to fight again.’’

Save Mart Center doors will open for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event at 4:45 p.m. The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m. PT. The first main card bout will start at 8 p.m.

About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.STRIKEFORCE.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.

Presidential election year might impact outcomes.(Neighbor)

Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) October 29, 2000 | O’Konowitz, Tom Byline: Tom O’Konowitz Daily Herald Staff Writer With the presidential election on next Tuesday’s ballot, experts are certain exceptionally more people than usual will get out to vote. But experts aren’t as certain about what that will mean for the many local referendum questions on the ballot.

Traditionally, local governmental bodies try to stay away from presidential elections, instead choosing to place referendum issues on ballots expected to draw lower voter turnout, according to Ron Michaelson, executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections. That’s because local officials believe they can more easily persuade a smaller crowd to support their efforts, he said. this web site 2012 presidential election

“When there’s a small turnout, the people who vote are more likely to be the people who support the bond issues. The people who oppose them are less likely to go vote unless there’s a major negative stir around a campaign,” Michaelson said. “The larger turnout usually means you see the people who oppose the bond issues voting because they want to get out and vote for the president.” Still, Michaelson said, that’s an assumption, and not necessarily the rule.

“Quite often, schools and cities put referendums out in odd- numbered years when not as many people vote because they think it will have a better chance of passage, but that’s not always the case,” he said. “It’s not an exact science at all.” McHenry County Clerk Katherine Schultz agreed with Michaelson’s generalization that local districts try to avoid presidential elections for their ballot items, but she pointed out that her county has 35 questions on the ballot next week.

“Usually they think they have a better chance of passage when there’s a smaller turnout,” she said. “We still have quite a few issues, though.” In McHenry County, Schultz said she expects to see around 75 or 80 percent voter turnout next week – more than the 65 percent in the 1996 presidential race and 65 percent in 1992.

And that’s much higher compared to non-presidential election turnouts like 44 percent in November 1998 and 55 percent in Nov. 1994, Schultz said.

And in Kane County, Joan Rennie, elections director for the Kane County clerk, said she expects similarly high turnout Nov. 7.

With 65 percent in 1996 and 82 percent in 1992, she said she expects to see around 80 next week.

“I think it will be a high turnout because of the presidential race and a lot of the referendums that are out there,” Rennie said. “People are more apt to turn out when they’re voting on things affecting their tax dollars. Plus, when there’s a presidential election they pay more attention to the media, and so their awareness is higher of all the other election items, too.” Statewide, in the 1996 presidential election, 66 percent of registered voters turned out at the polls; and in 1992 about 72 percent of the registered voters. That’s about 15-20 percent more than non-presidential election years. In 1998, 52 percent of voters turned out, and 53 percent in 1994. go to website 2012 presidential election

While numerous schools and government districts are going against the general rule of staying away from asking for more money during presidential elections. An administrator of at least one said it was done purposely.

Dan Zack, director of the Gail Borden Public Library District, said the 1997 district referendum seeking more tax dollars to build a new library failed because of low voter turnout.

He said he thinks the district’s efforts will be more successful next week when more people hit the polls.

“Awareness is a key we discovered,” Zack said. “The last referendum was an extremely low voter turnout, and now more people are simply paying more attention to all the issues.” With more people paying attention to issues, they’ll realize the need to build a new library in the Elgin area, Zack said.

“Today people still ask when we’re going to build the new building – they didn’t even know they needed to vote for it.” Daily Herald staff writer Anna Johnson contributed to this report.

O’Konowitz, Tom

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