Breaking Down Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers; The Main Event

All this week I've been breaking down Saturday night's Strikeforce card fight by fight. Today I'll be breaking down the main event. The big powerful striker coming off of the biggest win of his career against the greatest heavyweight fighter in the history of MMA. But before I start with that, I'd like to do a quick recap of my previous articles.

Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva

Werdum is one of the best grapplers in the world. Antonio Silva is a giant that may very well have concrete in his gloves. These two are polar opposites meaning that they both must fight their own fight in order to win. Unfortunately that can't really happen. This fight is either going to be on the ground or on the feet. If its on the feet, Silva wins. If its on the ground Werdum wins. I'll put my money on this fight going to the ground.

Winner- Fabricio Werdum

Gegard Mousasi vs. Sokoudjou

Mousasi is the future of this sport. He has every single skill needed to dominate at a high level. Sokoudjou was Mousasi a couple of years ago. Now Sokoudjou is a name fighter trying to earn back the respect he lost. What better way to do that than beat the guy that you once were? Mousasi has you beat in almost every realm of fighting. Thats why I'm going with Sokoudjou. I know it doesn't make sense, leave me alone.

Winner- Sokoudjou

Jason Miller vs. Jake Shields

MTV. That's why that name above to the left is so familiar. Mayhem is nuts, but you know that. Shields is calm but very dangerous. This fight is going to steal the show. Its set to go 5 rounds if necessary and believe me, all 5 will be necessary. These guys are very similar. Both can strike, both have great ground games. Neither one is going to finish the fight. The judges will have to make the decision, and they'll give it to the guy that does more.

Winner- Jake Shields

Now onto the big fight. The main event. The bout that this entire card was built around and named after. Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko VS Brett "The Grim" Rogers.

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor is the best Heavyweight ever to fight in mixed martial arts. That's not an exaggeration. The only negative about Fedor, is that he isn't that well known in North America. That is all about to change.

At 33-years old with over nine years of professional MMA fighting, Fedor has only lost one time. He holds an incredible record of 30-1-1. That one loss occurred because of a cut above Feodor's eye. It was a doctors stoppage. Fedor has never actually been KO'd. He's never been submitted or lost a decision either. He's garnered seven knockout victories, 16 submission victories and seven decision wins.

Fedor does it all. He may not look like your average fighter, but don't let his cuddly image fool you, this guy is seemingly unbeatable. If you're a ground fighter, he has no problem going to the ground. If you want to throw, be warned, he can knock you out with one clean blow.

That's not all. Fedor has some of the best grappling in the world. A former Russian national Judo champion and a 12-time Sambo champion while competing in numerous events. Fedor is no joke whether it be on the ground, or standing up.

Keys To Victory

1. Watch Out For That.....- We know you can strike with the best. How? Because you've struck with the best. We know you're not dumb enough to get caught off guard and end up eating canvas. But just in case, try not to get into an all out boxing match.
2. The Ground Is Your Friend- Brett says he's really been working on his ground game and people will be surprised with how good it is. Okay, Brett. But don't be surprised when we're not surprised with how fast Fedor submits you. If this fight gets to the ground, give it 30 seconds and you can change the channel.
3. Your Time To Shine- You have nothing to prove, the real MMA fans know you are the best of all-time. But to the casual fan, your just another fighter looking to get recognized on prime time. Maybe you might want to show them who Fedor is.

Brett Rogers

Brett "The Grim" Rogers is one of the most feared strikers in the game. Well, not really strikers, punchers. He has cast-iron hands that have been known to put anybody and everybody that walks in his path to sleep. The only question is his technique. Can he strike with another feared striker with stone hands?

This 28-year-old father of three, holds a professional MMA record of 10 wins with no losses. All of his wins have come by way of his hands. Yes, he has one submission win, but it was from strikes. Comparable to Shane Carwin, Brett Rogers is a brawler. He doesn't do much else aside from throw punches and attempt to use his size to overpower his opponent. And this guy has serious size.

Standing at 6'5" and pushing the Heavyweight weight limit at 265 pounds, Brett is astoundingly bigger than Fedor. Does that matter? It might, if he wasn't fighting who he's fighting. Brett can't really use his size in this fight. Fedor is a revered grappler who can and probably will take him to the ground. Brett just has to be ready.

Keys To Victory

1. The Ground Is NOT Your Friend- The exact opposite of Fedor, Brett needs to stay off the ground. He wants no part of Feodor's ground game, otherwise it's game over. I don't care how much you think your ground game has improved over the last five months, it's nowhere near the level of Fedor.
2. Don't Get Too Confident- That one is going to be hard for Brett. At Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg I asked him a question backstage. I said "Is their anything you fear about fighting a guy like Fedor?" Without even batting an eye or changing facial expressions he replied, "Their's nothing for me to be afraid of." False, Brett. Fear the ground.
   
3. Good Luck- Truly Brett, I wish you all the best in this fight. Just remember who you are dealing with. Never lose sight of the guy who's standing in front of you. That's Fedor Emelianenko, rumor has it that's he's not even human.
   

Prediction

Brett has the hands of messy concrete worker. They're covered in the stuff and he's just trying to find a place to shatter it. In comparison, Fedor is like that filthy rich friend you have. You don't know what to buy him because he already has everything. Who would you pick? The messy guy with concrete hands, or the rich guy that has everything, including that concrete? That's what I thought. I'll take the rich guy by submission in the first.