THE FIGHT FORECAST: FEDOR VS. ROGERS
This Saturday night marks the return of two things, the long awaited return of mixed martial arts to network television and the return of the king. In October of 2008, Elite XC aired their last show on CBS following Kimbo Slice's 14 second KO loss to Seth Petruzelli. Now it is 13 months later and Strikeforce MMA will get their crack at network television and they will kick it off with a bang. One of the greatest ever to grace mixed marital arts in Fedor Emelianenko, will put his top ranked status on the table and headline the card against the undefeated, bull of a man, Brett "Grim" Rogers. This isn't a title fight so it will be three, five minute rounds for the number one contendership to the Strikeforce heavyweight title.
The last time Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko was engaged in combat it was a spectacular climax to the end of the fight when challenger Andrei Arlovski became a human projectile to an off balanced Emelianenko. The now infamous flying knee immediately turned into a one way ticket to the ground for Andrei. Fedor launched a counter offensive in the form of an overhand right, knocking "The Pitbull" out in mid air. When observing Fedor's bouts, you can see he is the best at beating people at their own game. Whether it is Nogueira on the ground or Mirko "Cro Cop" and Arlovski in striking, Fedor is just on another level than everybody, everywhere. Should the fight with Rogers go to the ground, Fedor will unquestionably hold a huge advantage whether he is in Rogers guard or Rogers is in his guard. The only thing to watch for with Fedor is how he will adjust to fighting in a cage, for this is the first time he will professionally compete in one.
When you break down what Brett Rogers is about, you see three things, he's big, he hits hard and he is hungry. Just like Fedor, Rogers knocked out Arlovski in his last bout in under 30 seconds with a barrage of punches. Not being intimidated by Fedor's mythical stature, Rogers has made it well known he's looking for the knock out and will "make peoples jaws drop" after he defeats Fedor. Being confident in his abilities is a good thing for Rogers and even though he is trash talking, I doubt he's underestimating Fedor. To help him prepare, Rogers has been training with a former scheduled opponent for Fedor in the defunct Affliction, Josh Barnett. This is a very excellent decision for Brett and could turn out to be a huge advantage for him.
The Split Decision: There is no doubt in my mind that Fedor could very well lose this fight. Rogers definitely has the knock out power to pull it off but a lot of his fights are very sloppy technically. Unless Brett has improved on his striking, Fedor will counter everything he throws and it will become obvious fast that this will be a one sided fight. Rogers gets a punchers chance but my pick is Fedor by first round knock out.
The last time Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko was engaged in combat it was a spectacular climax to the end of the fight when challenger Andrei Arlovski became a human projectile to an off balanced Emelianenko. The now infamous flying knee immediately turned into a one way ticket to the ground for Andrei. Fedor launched a counter offensive in the form of an overhand right, knocking "The Pitbull" out in mid air. When observing Fedor's bouts, you can see he is the best at beating people at their own game. Whether it is Nogueira on the ground or Mirko "Cro Cop" and Arlovski in striking, Fedor is just on another level than everybody, everywhere. Should the fight with Rogers go to the ground, Fedor will unquestionably hold a huge advantage whether he is in Rogers guard or Rogers is in his guard. The only thing to watch for with Fedor is how he will adjust to fighting in a cage, for this is the first time he will professionally compete in one.
When you break down what Brett Rogers is about, you see three things, he's big, he hits hard and he is hungry. Just like Fedor, Rogers knocked out Arlovski in his last bout in under 30 seconds with a barrage of punches. Not being intimidated by Fedor's mythical stature, Rogers has made it well known he's looking for the knock out and will "make peoples jaws drop" after he defeats Fedor. Being confident in his abilities is a good thing for Rogers and even though he is trash talking, I doubt he's underestimating Fedor. To help him prepare, Rogers has been training with a former scheduled opponent for Fedor in the defunct Affliction, Josh Barnett. This is a very excellent decision for Brett and could turn out to be a huge advantage for him.
The Split Decision: There is no doubt in my mind that Fedor could very well lose this fight. Rogers definitely has the knock out power to pull it off but a lot of his fights are very sloppy technically. Unless Brett has improved on his striking, Fedor will counter everything he throws and it will become obvious fast that this will be a one sided fight. Rogers gets a punchers chance but my pick is Fedor by first round knock out.
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