Preview – Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Rogers
MMA November 6th. 2009, 4:00pm
FREE. MMA. CBS. SATURDAY. USA vs. RUSSIA. MMA. 9PM. GUS JOHNSON.
I figured most of you would read the first line before giving up, so I threw in all the important information that non-MMA fans would understand. Did it work? Is your interest in the sport piqued? Do you have a blood thirst and want to hear Gus Johnson get excited over something besides a 5-yard out? Well, then click that link and down the rabbit hole we go!
It’s been just over 13 months since we last saw mixed martial arts on network television. If you were around back then, Kimbo Slice was headlining an EliteXC card. Things didn’t end so well. The world has changed a lot since then. Mainly, Strikeforce has grown up. They signed some of the best and brightest stars in the sport, got a network deal and became a thorn in the side of the UFC.
Thus, Saturday night at 9pm we’ll see MMA return to CBS (9pm Eastern). This won’t be a circus atmosphere like we saw with EliteXC. Strikeforce has positioned itself as a legitimate, big-time fight promotion. Saturday’s card will be anchored by the man the UFC has always wanted, but could never sign, Fedor Emelianenko – arguably the number 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Fedor is a beast. He carries a 30-1 career record and that one loss was due to a technicality way back in 2000. He’s considered the best for a reason. He’s a stoic, mythical Russian killing machine that the average American probably has no idea about. Since he’s a stoic Russian who speaks little-to-no English, he hasn’t exactly been able to promote the fight in America.
That job went to his opponent, Brett “The Grim” Rogers. Rogers is a Chicago native with a 10-0 record. He’s a walking, talking Rocky cliche who was changing tires at Sam’s Club back in April. He’s a monster of a man, standing 6-feet, 5-inches tall, weighing 265 pounds and sporting a mohawk. He’s a memorable dude.
In the last week he’s attended the Bears game with Fedor, been on the Adam Carolla podcast, appeared on ESPN’s First Take and tonight he’ll be on Last Call with Carson Daly. I feel like Rogers is hurting his chances by flying all over the country the week of the fight. By my estimates, he went from Chicago on Sunday (Bears) to Bristol on Monday (ESPN) to LA on Tuesday (In-studio with Carolla) or Wednesday back to Chicago on Thursday (Press conference) and then to New York today. (In-stuido with Carson) Seems like a bit much with the biggest moment of your life Saturday night, no?
Almost nobody is giving Rogers a chance and I’d love to pick him, but I think the jet-lag is going to hurt him. Fedor is a legend for a reason. I’ll be rooting for Rogers on Saturday, but expecting a Fedor victory, probably early.
Fedor vs. Rogers: Fight Camp 360
This is a great introduction to both fighters.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. Jake Shields (for vacant Strikeforce middleweight title)
That’s Mayhem Miller over there with Fedor. He’s a little goofy. You might know Miller from MTV’s Bully Beatdown. He has a 22-6 record and is a tough fighter who went the distance with Georges St. Pierre way back when. He’s a legitimate opponent for former EliteXC champion Jake Shields. Shields comes in riding a 12-fight win streak and is one of the top fighters not signed by the UFC. I don’t understand why neither of these guys (especially Mayhem) were doing press this week. Shields is a great fighter and Miller is a good fighter that people might actually recognize.
Champ Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (non-title match)
This is another head-scratcher. The 24-year-old Mousasi is 26-2-1 and has won 13 straight fights, including the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight championship in August. Now, he’s fighting another Strikeforce guy in his weight class, yet this isn’t a title fight. This makes no sense on any level. Either way, he’s another tip-top non-UFC fighter. He’s taking on UFC veteran, Sokoudjou. The 25-year-old Camaroonian was bounced from the UFC after an unimpressive 1-2 run, but he’s still young, loaded with potential and looks like Predator.
Antonio Silva vs. Fabricio Werdum
Speaking of UFC disappointments, Fabricio Werdum went 2-2 in the organization before he was let go. To be fair, those 4 fights were all against very legit opponents. He made his Strikeforce debut in August with a quick victory over Mike Kyle and now he’s facing the man they call “Bigfoot.” (How did he get that nickname?) Silva is 13-1 and all but one of his fights was finished. This one is going to lead off Saturday night, and it should produce some quick fireworks.
You can read a full preview of the PRELIMINARY CARD over at The Rumble
Marloes Coenen vs. Roxanne Modafferi (CBS reserve fight)*
This fight will produce the next victim opponent for Cris “Cyborg” Santos. (The woman that beat down Gina Carano.) Should any of the main card fights run short (*clears throat* Silva-Werdum) then this fight will make the telecast. Coenen is tagged ast he next challenger, but Mondafferi is an excitable girl that I think we’d all be pulling for if CBS introduced us to her.
Jeff Curran vs. Dustin Neace
Shamar Bailey vs. John Kolosci
Deray Davis vs. Mark Miller
Nate Moore vs. Louis Taylor
Jonatas Novaes vs. Christian Uflacker
Tonight: Bonus Strikeforce!
That’s right, tonight on Showtime there’s more Strikeforce. The Strikeforce Challengers series is meant to showcase up and coming mixed martial artists on the pretty big Showtime stage. Preview here.
21 Responses to “Preview – Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Rogers”
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November 6th, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Line of the day. Awesome. Mother Nature Picture, even better.
/Let the Fedor hate begin
November 6th, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Strikeforce is not a thorn in UFC’s side.
Speaking of English
Glad this is free. Would like to see Rogers KO Fedor, but in all likelihood it won’t happen.
More interested in seeing Werdum myself.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Put that big Ruskie up against the bear for real, and maybe I’ll watch. But otherwise, it’s just more big, dumb MMA.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Strikeforce got a TV deal, Fedor and they’re close to landing Henderson. I’m pretty sure Dana would be happy to see them go the way of EXC.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:26 PM
This is false.
CBS puts on a horrible production for MMA, the announcers are brutal. Frank Shamrock knows MMA(obviously) but shits the bed while announcing. He is a fighter not a broadcaster. The only reason UFC doesn’t have a CBS type deal is Zuffa refuses to compromise on production. Understandable so. Thorn, no.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Do do do do Doooooo, Dominios
/Hammond’d
//first line reminded me of the link above
///the one where he promos for The Apprentice is better
November 6th, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Barney Frank is that you?
November 6th, 2009 at 4:32 PM
if fedor gets beat(95% sure that isn’t gonna happen) i cant wait to see the strikeforce execs lose their shit on national televison like scott coker did when kevin ferguson got exposed for the fraud that he is.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:41 PM
If this event is successful ratings wise than Strikeforce will become a thorn in the UFC’s side. UFC is in for some lean PPV’s. Many of their champions are taking a break to heal up and get surgery before they get back in the octagon. Two of their most marketable guys Lidell and Rampage are not going to be getting back in the octagon soon or possibly ever again. Lesnar is not fighting for the foreseeable future because of his mono. Last thing UFC wants is for Strikeforce to get any traction in the market right now. Best thing for Strikeforce is a dominating performance from Fedor and war between Shields and Mayhem.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:49 PM
With as shallow as StrikeForce’s roster is, it is going to be pretty hard to get traction to make a run. Affliction-Elite XC couldn’t ever make a stand for a myriad of reasons, bleeding money(for Affliction) obviously. I don’t see how a promotion putting 3-4 shows a year can be a competitor. Would it make Zuffa step up their game, sure. Which may be needed.
As was stated in the article, Fedor isn’t a huge draw over here. Heck Spider Silva isn’t a huge draw due to various reasons. Strikeforce is a single Fedor loss away from a collapse ala Elite XC imo.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:50 PM
I’ll watch. I keep hearing about this guy, and have never seen him, except highlight videos and so forth. So I’m curious.
I hope like hell there’s no really ugly girl beating up a pretty girl segment though.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
the winners of the strikeforce-ufc battle will be us. kinda like when wwe and wcw went head to head. the bigger strikeforce gets the better. that will put pressure on the ufc to put on better fights. let’s just hope it doesnt mean that they will flood the market with less than stellar mma because they confuse quality with quantity
November 6th, 2009 at 4:53 PM
Also next weekend is UFC 105 free on Spike, so back to back weekends of free MMA.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:05 PM
I’m pulling for Strikeforce in case I haven’t made that clear previously.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Dirt, you won’t be disappointed with Fedor, i’ve never seen anyone hit so fast and hard. He has no weaknesses so to speak of.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:09 PM
A young Vitor Belfort strongly disagrees with this.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:14 PM
‘Barney Frank is that you?’
Nah, not even close, Bulldog. Why? Did he say something along those lines? I just find the whole MMA thing to be quite boring most times, that’s all. Seems to me that not a whole lot happens during most of these big fights, anyways. You’ll get two guys circling each other for what seems like an eternity, then you’ve got one guy laying all over the other guy for a while; so much of the fight is spent just waiting for something to happen, and, sometimes, it never does. The fighters all seem fairly vanilla, and are like one and the same to me. Not sure how it became so popular in the first place. Maybe once it got a foothold into the mainstream, a lot people just jumped on the bandwagon because they wanted to feel cool for liking something that, at least right now, seems pretty cool to like. You guys wanna be cool, don’t you?! Anyways, to each his own, and for whomever here likes the stuff, that’s awesome; it’s just not for me.
November 6th, 2009 at 5:46 PM
So you have ADHD?
November 6th, 2009 at 5:50 PM
I’m going with the American. He looks like he has Running From the Cops Speed.
/Gus Johnson
//My first MMA comment
///And probably my last
November 6th, 2009 at 7:51 PM
Strikeforce now has a possible Cung Le return vs. Scott Smith.
Lindland vs. Jacare on the same card.
Nothing finalized.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:47 AM
“So you have ADHD?”
Yeah, Bulldog. Must be. Lord knows if you don’t dig MMA there’s just gotta be something wrong with you, so that must be it.