Brett Rogers: The Grim Is Now a Lamb Being Prepped for Slaughter

With the San Francisco Giants coasting along on one of their delicate winning streaks, I've got no interest in rocking the superstitious boat with my observations. Plus, I stumbled across Showtime's EliteXC Affliction Strikeforce or whatever the hell it's called on my TiVo.

Either my six-year-old machine has achieved self-awareness and is sympathetic to my mixed martial arts affinity, or I set the magic box to record the bouts when I was, ahem, in a state—who knows?

I really don't have the slightest idea how it got there, as I'm not in the habit of recording non-UFC events. Apologies to harder-core MMA fans—I'm 100 percent guilty of being a snob in this regard. Anyway, I'm positive the fights were there.

The only currently viable alternative to the UFC had a Saturday night interesting enough to warrant discussion.

The actual fights were entertaining, if underwhelming in terms of talent on display.

In the first pseudo-relevant fight of the night, some dude named Mike "Iron" Whitehead tallied a unanimous decision over a fading Kevin Randleman.

The Monster may have once been an impressive victory, but I'd still argue Whitehead's most respectable performances would be in two defeats: either going three-full against Keith Jardine or taking Brandon Vera to the second round before The Truth broke his nose. Shoot, even losing a Unanimous Decision to Babalu might rank above taking a couple swipes at Randleman as Kevin faces the glare of his sunset.

I don't claim to be an MMA expert, but—even when he'd lose to superior opponents at his peak—you usually didn't see the Monster out-wrestled by anyone, certainly not Mike Whitehead.

The red flags are becoming undeniable.

Next up were Joe "Diesel" Riggs and Phil Baroni.

Like I said, EliteXC isn't quite on my radar, so I didn't happen to catch any pre-fight hype, but Riggs apparently took a shot at The New York Bad Ass's history of steroid use; Baroni served a six-month suspension for a hot test he still contests to this day. The elder fighter didn't seemed too thrilled with Riggs.

Unfortunately, Baroni looked every bit the older pugilist. And wrestler. And grappler.

It's not a good sign when a questionable gatekeeper dominates you. However, that's the reality facing Phil when he wakes up these days.

In my opinion, the most intriguing bout came next, pitting Nick Diaz against an always-game Scott Smith. Anyone who doesn't like Smith, as a fighter, probably hasn't seen this.

When you can knock someone stiff under those circumstances, you're OK in my book.

I also like Diaz, despite the incredible arrogance, disdain for even the pretense of propriety, and other unsavory traits. He makes my short list of dangerous fighters outside the UFC's increasing monopoly on world-class talent.

And The Ultimate Fighter veterans...

Didn't Dana White compare Phillipe Nover to Georges St-Pierre? Never let it be said Dana's promotional flair is an asset to his credibility as an evaluator of talent for the masses.

Anyway, Smith is a tough hombre, and that's necessary since he's also an inferior fighter to most skilled adversaries. Diaz definitely qualifies as such and had no trouble picking Smith apart with casual fists and more insistent body shots, eventually putting everyone out of Smith's misery with a rear naked choke in the third round.

As is usually the case with a Nick Diaz fight, he left the impression he could've ended it at any point. I think he just likes to stay on camera for as long as possible.

The man is odd, but I also think he belongs in the Big Leagues.

I'm gonna finish with the Rogers-Arlovski fight, so that means it's time for the headliner—Jake Shields taking on Robbie Lawler.

Shields beat Lawler with a guillotine choke after struggling a touch against Lawler's stand-up. That makes 12 in a row for Jake...and I'm still not impressed. Part of the reason this battle didn't get my blood going is because there's no way Shields can be a title contender. If that's the case, what's the point?

Since Jake Shields fights at middleweight and/or welterweight, he faces two unhappy standards for championship contention—Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre.

That's bad news for anyone and everyone toiling in the respective weight classes. So bad, in fact, White has promised to set Spider upon Rush should GSP defend his title one more time. Granted, as far as promises go, one from Dana White isn't exactly AAA-rated stuff...

Anyway, dominating Robbie Lawler wasn't going to change my opinion, and Shields didn't have his way with Lawler. Far from it. He did win, though, and 12 consecutive wins is kosher in any pursuit.

Regardless, the moment of the night came and went before Shields or Lawler set foot in the imitation octagon.

It was delivered courtesy of Brett Rogers' vicious assault on Andrei Arlovski's noggin. Actually, Andrei's face to be more precise. For the first time, Gus Johnson's ridiculous octagon-side uber-enthusiasm wasn't obscenely misguided—the Grim's victory over the Pitbull was a rather enormous upset.

Unless, of course, you consider knockouts of James "The Colossus" Thompson, which nobody does.

Nope, Arlovski is the first A-lister Rogers had faced, and Brett ran right through the Belarusian.

You know what that means.

Congratulations, Brett Rogers.

You are now the face of the organization's hype machine. You will now be packaged as the devastating, brawling, up-and-coming threat to Fedor Emelianenko's reign. Remember, Arlovski is the guy who was "one lucky punch" from dethroning the Last Emperor.

Ironic that those same Andrei supporters will now be claiming their fighter was the victim of the "One Lucky Punch Theory."

Of course, whether the Grim is a bona fide contender or just a fortunate flavor of the month, only time will tell. But Affliction/Strikeforce/EliteXC is gonna spend the next several months trying like gangbusters to convince you otherwise because of the high-profile win over a former champion, one who was fresh off an eye-opening dance with the scariest human on the planet (sans nuclear weapons division).

Don't buy it.

Any guy who has to add, "Oh, and I want that belt," as an afterthought clearly isn't ready for Emelianenko's wrath.

Hey, on any given occasion, a grossly out-gunned opponent can turn back the tide of common sense and hang an improbable pelt on his/her wall. Matt Serra proved it against Rush.

So did the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge.

When the Grim steps into the cage with Emelianenko Fedor, he should be a bigger dog than both historical predecessors. And so the gears are already grinding away, tenderizing public perception before the sincere efforts to change it begin.

Poor, poor Brett Rogers.

**www.pva.org**