"He's flat-footed, and has no technique, but he can punch, that always helps.
He's accurate. He'll follow you right to the floor, so he's aggressive. But that aggressiveness can be used to an advantage, I think.
"If you give him momentum, he'll kill you."
"A lot of guys lose the fight before it starts, because he is similar to Mike Tyson, guys are scared of him. So the mental game is so important that you can't be scared. You have to be fearless against him."
Roach was hopeful, if nothing else, that the man who he had just finished weeks of training with—Andre "The Pitbull" Arlovski—would somehow be able to stick to a game plan and emerge the victor over Emelianenko, whose rumored greatness, in this writer's opinion, still remains very much unjustified.
Emelianenko is nothing more than "the best of the minor leagues," an untested and as-yet-unproven heavyweight cage-fighting urban legend.
Still, in the imaginative young minds of many of his 15-year-old fans, Emelianenko remains the equivalent of some larger-than-life legendary ancient Greek war god.
Such as Thor, who was the famous Scandinavian lightning-bolt-tosser, the bearded, burly, red-headed Lord of Thunderstorms.
If you will excuse this writer's embellishment here, it's as if Emelianenko ruled the now-defunct Pride FC, with a magical golden hammer, while seated in a silver chariot pulled by two powerful winged stallions.
He would then propel his Russian Hammer and Sickle through the air with scalpel-like precision, beheading all 30 of his former low-level opponents.
Sorry, kids, "here in the real world," Emelianenko is just an ordinary man. Nothing concerning his personality or demeanor speaks to any Greek legend.
Emelianenko is of average height, 230 pounds, and certainly possesses no such "winged chariot" or "golden hammer"—only two hands and two feet, just like any other human on the planet Earth.
And, although he is a well-known professional cage-fighter, if you met him on the street and you weren't a fan of the sport, you'd likely pass right by him without so much as blinking an eye.
What Emelianenko does possess, however, is a tremendous amount of strength from years of weight training; to add to that, he involves himself in a notorious conditioning program that is said to be the best in the world.
So last January, during the heavyweight WAMMA championship fight in Anaheim, Calif., Roach's hopes and predictions for his fighter—Arlovski—were short-lived.
After delivering an effective front kick to Emelianenko's midriff, which sent the Russian hype machine reeling backward against the cage, Arlovski obviously became far too overly excited.
Arlovski, with only 10 seconds left in the round—attempted a flying knee but instead ran head on, crashing full force into Emelianenko's fastball-pitcher-style overhand right.
Emelianenko scored a home run that night, only instead of a baseball, it was Arlovski's head that almost landed in the upper-deck.
Next batter? Well the man on-deck is undefeated cage warrior Brett "Grimm" Rogers.
Rogers is 10-0 and a 6'5", 265-pound mountain of a man, and he plans to make it 11-0 when he faces Emelianenko, who is now 29-1, 1 NC, in the latest event offering from the MMA promotion known as Strikeforce, which can be viewed live on CBS TV this coming weekend.
Yes, Rogers is the proverbial underdog, a dark horse, a long shot—the metaphors are many and the chances of him winning are few, albeit the ol' familiar puncher's chance...that is if he can somehow keep the fight standing.
Grimm definitely brings lots of explosive knockout power; he is a heavy-handed fighter with a boxing technique that would undoubtedly make even coach Roach proud.
And speaking of which, somewhat ironically, "Grimm" has also sent the "banger from Belarus," Mr. Arlovski, to an unplanned trip to dreamland during the opening seconds of their fight, which took place last June.
In 1974, when the greatest heavyweight boxer who ever lived, Muhammad Ali, was preparing to meet the most terrifying fighter in the world at the time, George Foreman, in Kinshasa, Zaire, for the heavyweight championship of the world, he was ridiculed by sportscaster Howard Cosell.
Needless to say, Cosell didn't think much of Ali's chances against the murderous punching Foreman and had become extremely outspoken concerning Ali and his predicted outcome.
The Greatest then retorted by uttering one of my of all-time favorite "Ali quotes."
"Cosell, you told everybody I don't have a chance. You told them I don't have nothing but a prayer," Ali said.
"Well, chump, all I need is a prayer, because if that prayer reaches the right man, not only will George Foreman fall, but mountains will fall, mister!"
The question now, in the minds of many, is if Grimm Rogers can become Emelianenko's "Grimm Reaper"?
If he can, it would bring a welcomed ending to all the hype and hoopla surrounding Emelianenko—which, understandably, so many of us are tired and sick of hearing.
So let's go, Grimm.
Step up to the plate and hit that grand slam to win the World Series. I'll be rooting for you, underdog!
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