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twitterStrikeforce:
Brett Rogers says he’s ready to shock Fedor Emelianenko
Focused Rogers spent three months preparing for Nov. 7
Associated Press
Brett Rogers, right, listens to advice from trainer Mike Reilly while rolling with training partner Kevin Asplund at Ambition Training Academy in Eagan, Minn. on Oct. 29, 2009. Rogers is preparing for his Nov. 7 fight with Fedor Emelianenko at Sears Centre in Chicago.
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 | midnight
The last time Brett Rogers fought in a cage, he finished off former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski by TKO in 22 seconds.
Funny how quickly a life can change.
In that short amount of time, Rogers (10-0) grasped enough of the public eye to finally quit his job as a tire repairman at a Sam’s Club in St. Paul, Minn., and begin training full-time.
“My life changed dramatically right after that fight,” Rogers said during a media teleconference. “I started getting all kinds of offers from movies, TV shows and top sponsors. For this next fight, all I had to do was train.”
The freedom to spend more time in the gym and less underneath cars couldn’t have come at a better time for the 28-year-old fighter.
His next challenge comes in the form of arguably the best heavyweight fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko (30-1). The two meet Nov. 7 in Chicago, in what will be Emelianenko’s debut for the Strikeforce organization.
According to Rogers, the expectation that the 'Last Russian Emperor' could be his next opponent came in August, when Emelianenko’s previous fight was canceled and Affliction folded.
When news broke later that month that the UFC and Emelianenko’s promotional company, M-1 Global, had failed to reach an agreement, Rogers figured the fight was on.
“That’s pretty much the steps right there,” Rogers said. “The first step was Affliction folding and then once he didn’t sign with the UFC, I knew I was going to see him sooner or later.
“At first it was like, ‘OK, should I do this?’ I sat down with my coaches and it made sense. Why take him on later when I can take him on now? My mindset was already on him after the Affliction deal, he’s at the top of the game and I’m always up for a challenge.”
It was a smart move by Rogers to begin preparations for Emelianenko in August, despite not knowing whether he would sign a contract with the UFC.
UFC president Dana White had expressed the desire and confidence that Emelianenko would join his organization in the past, namely in 2007 when the UFC purchased the PRIDE organization that Emelianenko had been fighting for at the time.
According to White, Emelianenko refused to sign again in August, mostly due to M-1 Global’s desire to co-promote UFC events.
On Monday, Emelianenko commented on that decision.
“As for the UFC and fans being disappointed by the fact I didn’t sign, I think it would be good if they could understand that I couldn’t sign a one-sided contract,” Emelianenko said. “My manager thought I deserved a bit more.”
Even while talks between M-1 Global and the UFC were still ongoing, Rogers says he was preparing specifically for Emelianenko.
Although all oddsmakers still have Rogers as a heavy underdog on Nov. 7, he says that after preparing for a fighter for that long he’s well suited to score an upset.
“I’ve been training for three months for this guy,” Rogers said. “It’s one of those things where I feel like I know him. I haven’t fought him yet but I feel like I know him. I’m focused, my head is straight.”
One thing that could benefit Rogers is that this fight will be the first of Emelianenko’s professional career that will be in a cage instead of a ring.
All 10 of Rogers’ fights have been in a cage.
“It is different fighting in a ring than in a cage,” Rogers said. “It’s going to be a matter of being used to ducking out through the ring, moving through the ring, sticking your butt out of the ring — you can’t do that in a cage. I’m going to use that to my advantage because his natural instincts are going to be to think the same way.”
Emelianenko said he isn’t concerned about the difference.
“I think my submission and striking does not depend on the surroundings of the fight,” Emelianenko said. “It doesn’t matter if a fight takes place in a ring or a cage.”
Nov. 7 will be the first time Rogers enters the cage without a day job to report to the next week.
Although that trend is over, he’s hoping the one of knocking out opponents continues.
“Up to this point, no one has ever made it to the after-fight press conference with me,” Rogers said. “I hope to keep that going.”
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.
Discussion: 9 comments so far…
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a bit more? fedor is a punk who signed with weak sister snoozeforce to effectively duck brock lesnar. this fool would have trouble with couture, mir, or nogueira, let alone lesnar.
Bam1969:
WRONG!
neither of you know for sure
who has fedor fought? he's barely decisioned nogueira twice, and beat a bunch of second rate fighters. arlovski? sylvia? coleman? please. let him step up to mir, couture, velasquez, carwin, lesnar.
Bam and Jerry you are both wrong. Fedor already beat Nogueira. Check out his record here. http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Fedor-Eme...
Trust me Fedor who is what they will be saying.....He ducked the UFC... period M-1 he part owns and he knows time is short....the talent pool in the UFC is like college and pros in football.....all you guys that are gay for Fedor are bummmed Rogers just might do it..
A free fight on cbs is worth more then a ufc ppv fight! both will gain alot of new fans come sat.Witch will raise his stock for the ufc in the near future!
I agree with bambam....Fedor has only fought five times in three years (to lame duck competitors) and is clearly ducking the top tier fighters. Cro-cop had the same "invicibility aura" a few years ago when he entered the UFC as the most feared Russian, but was quickly exposed as a weak fighter with a glass jaw...Fedor has the simliar problem as Cro-cop, he cannot take a punch and will lose his status as soon as he is exposed by a knockout. I would not be surprised if Rodgers knocks him out early tonite, however Rodgers was handpicked by Fedor for his non-existent ground game. If Fedor can keep the fight past round one he will win.... Fedor would certainly lose to Lesnar, and quite probably to Mir, Couture, Velasquez and Carwin...I dont ever expect to see Fedor in UFC becuase he knows he can never beat the aforementioned five fighters and wants to keep his straw status in Russia.