Strikeforce Previews: Fedor vs. Rogers

"The Last Emerperor" Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-0, 1 NC, 0-0 Strikeforce) vs. Brett "The Grim" Rogers (10-0, 2-0 Strikeforce)

The Story So Far

Yeah, like you haven't heard...

The consensus #1 heavyweight on the planet and arguably one of the most dominant fighters the sport has ever seen makes his long-awaited debut for Strikeforce - on network television no less - against the hungry, undefeated youngster who has said all along that he's going to beat the Russian icon.

Conventional Wisdom

Rogers is a big, strong up and comer who is going to be a force in the heavyweight division for years to come. He made exceptionally quick work of Andrei Arlovski in June, defeating the former UFC Heavyweight champion in :22 seconds under a flurry of fists. Without a doubt, "The Grim" has the power necessary to change a fight with a single punch.

But he's fighting Fedor Emelianenko.

Depend on who you ask, Fedor is undefetaed and that's after fighting for close to a decade and earning his reputation as the best heavyweight in the world by defeating everyone from Minotauro Nogueira and Cro Cop to Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski with a laundry list of others interspersed in between.

WKR Analysis

Upsets happen, just ask Georges St-Pierre.

Rogers is no Matt Serra, in that he shows the singular skill necessary to shock the world in the lethal hands he's used to end every one of the ten fights he's had to date. Let me say that again: every fight Rogers has won has come as a result of strikes, whether it be KO, TKO or Submission; dude is going to swing on you and swing on you hard.

But therein lies the problem; while Rogers has stated he's improving on the ground, his lone weapon is his stand-up and those big hands he's been throwing for ten straight fights.

Fedor is the complete package, even if it isn't the prettiest package the sport has ever seen. Fights aren't won by rippled abs and bulging biceps; they are won with an impressive array of skills and abilities and what Fedor is lacking as a physical specimen, he makes up for in terms of performance in the ring.

Ah... there is that word... ring. Some are concerned that Fedor will be thrown off by making the move from a ring to a cage. Some also think that Rogers is going to drop "The Last Emperor" and that Elvis isn't dead.

Fun Fact

By the time Saturday night is over, Kimbo Slice will have drawn more viewers to CBS than the best heavyweight in the world. If that isn't a sign of the apocalypse, I don't know what is.