Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleSTRIKEFORCE:
Fedor Emelianenko TKOs Brett Rogers in second round
Russian fighter successful in Strikeforce debut on network television broadcast
Associated Press
Fedor Emelianenko of Russia, celebrates with fans after knocking out Brett Rogers in the second round of the Strikeforce Mixed Martial Arts match at The Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009.
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 | 9:30 p.m.
Fedor Emelianenko delivered the result many were expecting in his nationally televised debut with the Strikeforce organization.
The difficulties he faced in reaching that result was what may have surprised some.
Emelianenko improved his professional mixed martial arts record to 31-1 Saturday with a second-round knockout win over Brett Rogers at Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
The win was anything but easy for Emelianenko however, as Rogers bloodied the WAMMA heavyweight champion’s nose with the first punch of what turned out to be a very even fight until a huge right ended Rogers’s night 1:48 into the second round.
Rogers entered the fight as a 9-1 underdog.
“The main thing in the first round is not to be nervous, look for the manners of your opponent and see if there’s a weakness,” Emelianenko said. “There’s no doubt Brett is a great fighter but I watched tape on him and I did find a weak space.”
A visibly disappointed Rogers (10-1) said that he would come back strong from the first loss in his professional career and that he felt he had been slightly affected by his opponent’s reputation.
“I doubted myself a little bit,” Rogers said. “I should have thrown my hands a lot more. That’s the only reason I failed today.
“I hate it. I’m so heated, I can’t even put it to words like I want to right now.”
Before the fight, many believed Emelianenko would look for a takedown as opposed to standing and trading strikes with the heavy-handed Rogers.
Emelianenko did land an early takedown attempt, but Rogers was able to get quickly back to his feet.
Besides one more clinch that ended with Rogers in top position, Emelianenko seemed comfortable keeping the fight away from the ground.
Emelianenko’s debut was televised nationally on CBS, the first time MMA card on network television in 13 months.
The card also included a lead-in middleweight championship bout between Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Shields won by unanimous decision.
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Brock Lesnar retires after first-round TKO defeat against Alistair Overeem
| Date | Event | Headlining Match | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 3 | Boxing: ESPN2 Friday Night Fights | Edison Miranda vs. Isaac Chilemba | Las Vegas: Texas Station's Dallas Events Center |
| February 4 | UFC 143 | Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit | Las Vegas: Mandalay Bay Events Center |
| February 15 | UFC on FUEL TV 1 | Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger | Omaha, Neb. |
| February 16 | SCC 4 | Kendall Grove vs. Jay Silva | Las Vegas: Orleans Arena |
| February 25 | UFC 144 | Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson | Saitama, Japan |
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
What makes Fedor so impressive is his incredible hand speed. There is no one even close in UFC (other than Anderson Silva) who has the hand speed of Fedor. That is why Fedor can beat anyone, because he beats his opponent to the punch...
as I said Brett who ?? I wont be convinvced this guy is anything until he fights in the ufc...Frank Muir would have him in deep water..
fedor was relatively impressive, but yeah, let him step up to the big boys in the ufc, then we'll see.