Strikeforce Challengers 17 results recap for 'Voelker vs Bowling 3' in Las Vegas on July 22

The fists were certainly flying last night (July 22, 2011) at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada for Strikeforce Challengers 17: "Voelker vs Bowling 3."

Cincinnati native Roger Bowling did everything right. He was handily defeating Bobby Voelker with a mixture of counters, leg and body kicks as well as takedowns for seven straight minutes.

That is, until he got knocked out.

All it took was one clean knee to the face after a failed takedown attempt and Bowling was on Queer Street. Voelker smelled blood and battered the wounded warrior, forcing a referee stoppage after repeated right hands on the ground.

With the victory, Voelker wins the rubber match and now holds a lifetime 2-1 edge against Bowling. He'll likely be matched up against the winner of the Scott Smith vs. Tarec Saffiedine fight next week.

The rest of the card had plenty of exciting action as well:

In heavyweight action, late injury replacement Shawn Jordan gave IFL veteran Devin Cole all he could handle, especially in an exciting first round that featured several sweeps, takedowns, reversals and powerful strikes. 

Eventually though, fighting on three days' notice took its toll on Jordan as he began to fade. Cole worked his reach, superior gas tank and took the final two rounds with top control and pressure to secure a unanimous although slightly lackluster decision victory.

Joe Cason was known for his insanely quick finishes on the local circuit but rising light heavyweight prospect Ovince St. Preux proved he was on a completely different level by crushing him quickly. "OSP" landed a nasty knee to the face and followed it up with ground and pound. Cason was overwhelmed and tapped to strikes after barely a minute.

With the victory, Ovince St. Preux is now 5-0 in Strikeforce and is ready for the big time. Perhaps a fight with Ranato Sobral is on the horizon. "OSP" certainly shouldn't need much turnaround time after such a quick victory.

In one of the most relevant female fights of 2011, Sarah Kaufman's technique and experience was simply too much for the ex-marine Liz Carmouche. Carmouche tried to make it ugly early with a lot of cage work but Kaufman handled her and when they began striking, Kaufman completely outclassed Carmouche.

The former champion's straight punches were too quick for Carmouche's counters and, while the talented but still inexperienced fighter promised lots of blood, it was her blood that painted the cage floor after repeated punches to the face from the Canadian. After three rounds of punishment, Kaufman earned an easy unanimous decision, sweeping all three judges' scorecards 30-27 and quite possibly earning a title shot against next weeks Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate winner.

In the opening bout of the night, Russian middleweight striker Adlan Amagov put on a kicking clinic for two rounds against Lloyd Irvin product Ronald Stallings. Stallings went for broke in the third round but Amagov weathered his storm with the help of a lot of fence grabbing to pull off a split decision victory.

For complete results and blow-by-blow of all the main card action click here.

So Maniacs, who impressed you the most tonight?

Did Kaufman earn an opportunity to reclaim her title? Will "OSP" or Bobby Voelker be able to make an impact in their respective divisions?

Sound off!