Andre Arlovski may be on his way out of mixed martial arts. After suffering two quick knockout losses --one to Fedor and one to Brett Rogers-- it appears that Affliction may be done with the former UFC heavyweight champion.  

"His contract has expired and right now we have so many fighters under contract that we are just concentrating on working with them," said Affliction VP Tom Atencio in a recent conversation with Fighters Only Magazine.

When questioned as to whether or not Affliction would be pursuing a new contract with Arlovski, Atencio was quoted as saying,"No, we are not looking at that right now."

At least Arlovski still has his boxing career. 

For those who are fans of "The Pitbull" there is hope that he would still compete in a top level MMA promotion but Arlovksi would most likely have to take a pay cut. 

Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo Sports was in attendance at Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields and she came away with some lessons for Strikeforce and the UFC. 

What Strikeforce can learn from the UFC

-- Cut out the catchweight nonsense, and make fighters defend their belts. Look, we realize that at the moment, Strikeforce's roster is on the thin side. But no fighter should take on the risk of a fight for it to mean nothing but a paycheck. Jake Shields has a title belt. It needs to be contested. Raid small promotions, pull some fighters from Japan, make more of the partnership with Affliction, do anything possible to avoid more nonsensical matchups.

Isn't the main event for UFC 99 a catchweight bout? I guess that's what happens when you have two big names that are stuck in fighter limbo. 

What the UFC can learn from Strikeforce

-- Loosen up a little. UFC and WEC events are tight ships -- almost too tight. They allow access to a small group of media when there are many more who have proven to be good, professional members of the media. If they screw up, then fine, toss 'em, but not allowing access isn't good for the UFC, WEC or MMA.

To rehash the old media vs. new media debate the answer here is unequivocally yes. Zuffa doesn't have to credential everyone with a blog but they should recognize legitimate on-line media that help to shape and report the MMA news cycle. Two members of SBN come to mind, BloodyElbow and MMAMania. 

After Rogers shocked MMA fans with a twenty two second over former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski, Gus Johnson proclaimed, "Brett Rogers is humble, hungry and talented." 

Indeed all of those traits were on display last night.

Knocking out an opponent in twenty two seconds is no small feet even more so when the opponent is the #4 ranked heavyweight in the world. Welcome to the top-ten Brett.

Rogers also proved that top talent doesn't have to come from the UFC.

Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. They were suppose to be the top heavyweight prospects that would challenge the upper echelon of the division. In twenty seconds Rogers showed us that the top heavyweight prospect was before our eyes the whole time. We just thought that EliteXC and calling out Kimbo wasn't a resume builder. The problem was we forgot to really look at that resume. Rogers was 9-0 coming into this fight, with five knockouts,  three TKO's and one submission from punches. Oh yeah, only one his fights ever made it out of the first round. Whatever organization you are in those facts indicate talent, massive talent.

Last night Rogers proved his talent and earned a great deal of respect.

In the post-fight interview Rogers kept perspective on what will certainly be his new found stardom saying, "I am not the only one who started from the working world." Indeed the timing may of worked out perfectly for Rogers who initially was suppose to fight Alistair Overeem not Arlovski. That fact did not escape Rogers, "this is the perfect opportunity and you know this sport is all about timing, and I am definitelywith my timing I am just going to keep doing work." Now Rogers is looking forward to possibly fighting the Strikeforce heavyweight champion on August 15th. 

Hunger is a word we often use to describe passion, ambition and athlete's who compete with reckless abandonment. Last night Rogers did all of those things. There was no initial hesitation on Rogers' part, he simply pushed forward and landed blow after blow. Roger's said that his strategy was to, "get in there and bang with the big boys" he accomplished that goal.

Rogers knows what he is fighting for, his family and a new home, and that helps feed his hunger. Rogers exclaimed after the fight that he will be able to buy a new house near his new gym Ambition.

The Rogers family earned it with that victory.

ST. LOUIS- Tonight WKR is in attendance at Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields. For those readers with Showtime you can watch the fight at at 10:00pm EST / 9:00pm CST.

Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields features a catchweight bout between two top-ten fighters, middleweight Robbie Lawler and welterweight Jake Shields. Both fighters are also former EliteXC champions for their respective weight classes. 

Also featured will be a heavyweight bout between a top prospect Brett 'The Grim' Rogers and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. 

WKR will be featuring live round-by-round updates and fight results Saturday night. 

After the jump there will be SPOILERS after the jump for non-televised bouts and televised bouts

Thank you for your continued support.

* Just found out Fedor and Josh Barnett are in St. Louis. Both are muzzled by Showtime PR officials.

Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields coverage

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St. Louis - Strikeforce's second event since buying the assets of ProElite and EliteXC will take place this Saturday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Tune into WatchKalibRun this Saturday night for round-by-round updates and commentary.

Jake Shields (22-4-1) vs. Robbie Lawler (16-4)

This fight pits two former EliteXC champion and two top-ten fighters against each other. What more could a fight fan want?

Jake Shields is the #4 ranked welterweight in the world and is widely considered to be the best welterweight outside of the UFC. Shields has demonstrated an ever-improving stand-up game. But his go to skill set has to be his ground game. Shields holds a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt and submitted Nick Thompson in just over a minute.

Robbie Lawler is a former UFC fighter but since leaving the organization he has developed into a top middleweight fighter. Fans often forget that when Lawler started fighting for the UFC he was only 20 years old. Seven years later and Lawler has developed into the #4 ranked middleweight in the world. A victory over Jake Shields could cement his position in the top of the middleweight division despite being outside the UFC.

Lawler likes to stand and trade and will most likely wish to avoid the ground for fear of Shields submissions skills. Can Jake out box Lawler? Probably not, so the question is how will Shields get the fight to the ground to utilize his submissions.

Andrei Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)

This fight was a surprise addition to the fight card. It was rumored that Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem would fight Rogers, but an injury due to a brawl with bouncers sidelined the fighter.

That's when Arlovski stepped in to fight Brett ‘The Grim' Rogers.

Rogers made a name for himself as a top heavyweight prospect with his debut in the now defunct EliteXC. Rogers is most famous for his verbal challenge to Kimbo Slice after Kimbo defeated Josh Thompson.

Brett Rogers is huge! One writer described him as a small truck, hopefully a Toyota and not a GM or else it would break down in the middle of the fight. Besides cutting weight to make the 265lbs. limit for heavyweight Rogers has legitimate striking skills. Eight of his nine wins came via TKO with five knockouts. Then again Rogers is making a huge jump in competition with Andrei Arlovksi.

Arlovski is the former UFC heavyweight champion and since he dropped back to back fights to Tim Sylvia he is 5-1 beating Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell while being KO'd by Fedor Emelianeko. Arlovski made big news by training with standout boxing trainer Freddie Roach. At one point it appeared that Arlovski was walking away from MMA in favor of boxing.

While Rogers is the underdog he may be able to use his size to wear Arlovski down in the clinch. Roy Nelson used this strategy coupled with takedowns and transitions to great affect though Nelson ultimately lost.

Due to Arlovksi's resume and training partners many feel that he will be able to win the fight if it turns into a kickboxing match.

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Who knew that Phil Baroni was a prominent supporter of abstinence only education. 

In a new interview with Cagepotato Baroni explained his restored virginity, 

So I've been watching some of your recent interviews - do you really believe that not having sex helps your athletic performance? I thought that was just some bullshit myth.
PHIL BARONI: Yeah, I believe it. I know it to be a fact, man, especially when it comes to taking punches. You take punches better when you abstain from, ah...punching your own loads out.

How do you explain the science behind that?
Aw man, I'm not a scientist. It makes you fuckin' mean, I'll tell you that much. I'm lean and mean right now. It fuckin' works. You don't think so, then don't do it - you're not a fighter anyway, so who cares?

Don't you think your wife's needs should come before your job?

I'll put it this way dude, I more than make up for it when I don't have a fight. My wife could use a break anyway. It was a lot easier when I wasn't married; you could just bring ‘em in the room, one after another, line ‘em up, like when I was in Japan. But I'm married now, so the wife needs a break once in a while.

Hear that teenagers, no sex makes you mean and irritable. No wonder high school was an awful experience. 

I don't think Baroni should be pinning his combat hopes on not getting laid. Personally that seems like a dubious strategy considering that  abstinence only education doesn't work. 

On the other hand we should be happy that Baroni isn't trying any pharmaceutical products for an extra edge. 

Our long slide into bankruptcy continues with another edition of our gambling advice. If you have been following these for awhile I am sure you will have surmised that we in fact suck at picking winners. That is not to say we are clueless about MMA more that we suck at finding upsets for better payoffs. Oh well. If you got a couple of bucks to spend (read as lose) with us then come on and enjoy the ride. 

WEC 41

Mike Brown (+115) over Urijah Faber (-145)
Wait a second. You are telling me that the guy who threw Urijah around like a rag doll and then knocked his head off with one punch is the underdog? The guy who followed that performance with the dismantling of one Leonard Garcia. A beating that was so bad in Garcia's home state that Texas Rangers thought of arresting him on assault charges? Yeah I will bet on that guy again. 

Jose Aldo (-200) over Cub Swanson (+160)
Jose Aldo may be young but the guy is freaking monster. I think it is safe to say the WEC is building him to be the next number one contender for whomever wins Faber vs. Brown. So I will put some money on Aldo. Besides I am really tired of being wrong in these advice columns. 

Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields

Jake Shields (-115) over Robbie Lawler (-105)
Essentially this is a pick 'em and I will pick Jake Shields. Robbie Lawler has really come of age since he left the UFC (both literally and stylistcly). But I don't think he will have an answer to Shields' ground game. When the odds are basically even you should just pick the more talented fighter. And that is Jake Shields.

Brett Rogers (+300) over Andrei Arlovski (-340)
Thought I was tired of being wrong didn't you? Well I guess not! Ok let me say this first, there is no way Brett Rogers is winning this fight but at +300 maybe, just maybe this could be a big payday for the more intrepid gamblers out there. After all, fortune favors the bold and I am feeling bold today. Look, Roy Nelson was able to take Arlovski down and transition to side control and Nelson is a short fat guy. Brett Rogers is a huge fat guy who can throw bombs (really he should be a super heavyweight). While Rogers isn't an accomplished ground fighter neither was Nelson who was pretty successful against Arlovski, until the referee stood them up (in side control for crying out loud!). True, Arlovski beat another 'big' heavyweight in Ben Rothwell, who creepily reminds me of Brett Rogers now that I think about it but you know what? I am feeling lucky punk.

Joe Riggs (+105) over Phil Baroni (-115)
All Phil Baroni fights go like this. Impressive for the first three minutes then Baroni gases out and gets beat in the next round. Can Joe Riggs survive long enough for Baroni to get tired from missing his cycle? I am willing to put money on it. 

Last event WKR was 1-3. 

Robbie Lawler (16-4) is the former EliteXC and ICON middleweight champions. Next weekend he will face off against another former EliteXC champion, welterweight Jake Shields (22-4-1), at Strikeforce's June 6th event in St. Louis. 

Lawler is a middleweight (185lbs.) and Shields is a welterweight (170lbs.) yet the fight will in fact be taking place at a catchweight of 182lbs.

In a recent interview with MMAMania Robbie Lawler touched on the catchweight issue and he seemed less than thrilled about the prospect of dropping a few more pounds. 

Derek Bolender: At the 182 pound catchweight, do you feel like you'll have the size and strength advantage? Do you anticipate being able to push out of positions and bully him around a little bit?

Robbie Lawler: No, because the catchweight is not really good for me. It's better for him. I'm coming down. He does not have to cut any weight. I have to cut more than I'm normally used to, but I don't think it really matters. I'm going to be ready to go and ready to fight.

Derek Bolender: The catchweight was something that appeared to be agreed on after the fact. Is that something you'll try to agree upon up front next time if a catchweight is needed? What are your thoughts on how that transpired?

Robbie Lawler: Well the thing is they're like, "Hey you're going to fight Jake Shields" and I was like, "Okay we're fighting him." We did the press conference and everything.

Then my manager goes, "They want to do it at 182″ and I was like, "Why didn't they say that in the beginning?"

Then he was like, "Do you really want to fight him on this? Is this something where you think you should make a big deal about it?" I go, "Hey, it's not a big deal if they don't think it's a big deal."

Now it's at 182 and we're all passed that and we're going to fight. Yeah, I wasn't too happy about the way it went down

Remind anyone else of a boxing fight where one camp starts changing things after the contract has been signed?

This is one of the reasons why I am not a big fan of catchweights and think it is really bad idea in the long run. 

Strikeforce has made a big announcement regarding their June 6th show in St. Louis. 

Former UFC heavyweight champion and top-ten heavyweight Andrei Arlovski will fight former EliteXC standout and currently undefeated heavyweight Brett Rogers. 

Andrei 'The Pitbull' Arlovski (15-6) is currently under contract with Affliction though he did fight on a EliteXC event against Roy Nelson in October. Arlovski recently fought and lost to top ranked heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko. In the run up to that fight Arlovski partnered with boxing coach Freddie Roach. In the aftermath it appeared that 'The Pitbull' would take a hiatus from MMA and focus solely on boxing as he signed a contract with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. 

Brett 'The Grim' Rogers (9-0) was a standout heavyweight fighter in EliteXC. Rogers is most remembered for calling out Kimbo Slice after his poor performance against James Thompson. After the fall of ProElite Rogers' contract was bought by Strikeforce and many see him as the future of their heavyweight division. Rogers recently won his Strikeforce debut against Ron Humphrey.

After the jump for the rest of the fight card

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