Strikeforce: 'Fedor Vs. Rogers' Live Cageside Blog

6:05 pm ct - The prelims are underway for the Strikeforce: 'Fedor vs. Rogers' event from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

The fans are filing into the arena and taking their seats and fighters such as Shinya Aoki, Robbie Lawler, and Dan Henderson are just a few feet away from the action, taking it all in.

Continue to tune into my live cageside blog as I give you results and commentary as the action unfolds. The main card is scheduled to go live on CBS at 8:00 pm (ct).

7:08 pm ct - Chicago native Jeff Curran finally gets the crowd stirred as he gets a huge ovation when he enters the cage. His fight ends quickly. His opponent Dustin Neace looks like he may have broken a rib early in the fight. Andrei Arlovski and Clay Guida have entered the building as well.

7:38 pm ct - About a 20 min wait before we go live on CBS network television. The Marloes Coenen/Roxanne Modafferi fight has been the best one so far. Arena is filling up nicely. Just saw Matt Lindland. Clay Guida is literally climbing over my shoulder into the crowd to talk to fans and take pictures. Very cool.

8:02 pm ct - We are live on CBS network television! So many storylines that could unfold in the next two hours. Will Brett Rogers be able to pull off the unthinkable and shock the world? How will grappling specialists Jake Shields and Jason Miller approach one another? Is this a trap fight for Gegard Mousasi? How will Fabricio Werdum deal with the size and power of Antonio Silva? We will find out all the answers very soon. Here we go!

8:23 pm ct - Antonio Silva and Fabricio Werdum start the second round with Silva controlling the entire fight so far. Landed some big shots. Werdum better get this fight on the ground.

8:26 pm ct - The second round ends and both men are gassed. The fight was on the ground on two separate occasions, but Werdum could not secure a submission.

8:32 pm ct - Werdum gets a takedown late in round three and he's trying for full mount but can't quite get it. The horn sounds and this one is going to the judges.

8:48 pm ct - Mousasi and Sokoudjou are trading strikes. This could be a trap fight for Mousasi with nothing really on the line. Mousasi lands some strikes late but loses his balance and gets taken down by Sokoudjou.

Mousasi quickly reverses and gets into side control. One minute left in the round. Mousasi goes for another takedown and ends up on his back but reverses once again.

Very competitive round. Mousasi looks likes he may be having trouble with the strength of Sokoudjou.

8:53 pm ct - More of the same in round two. Mousasi getting the better of the standup, goes for a takedown, ends up on his back, and eventually reverses. Big ground and pound by Mousasi now and the ref stops the fight!

8:57 pm ct - "Mayhem" and Jake Shields are next for the middleweight championship. I cannot wait to see what kind of entrance Mayhem comes up with. I've heard his "dance team" is here.

9:09 pm ct - Mayhem is getting huge love from the crowd and so is referee Big John McCarthy. Round one is underway.

9:12 pm ct - Shields is in full mount after a big takedown. Mayhem is in danger but he is able to get back up. Shields shoots again and takes him down. The crowd doesn't know what to think about this grappling match.

9:15 pm ct - Two huge takedowns by Mayhem as well (never seen anyone throw around Shields like that before) and the first round appears to be dead even. Look for more of the same in the second.

9:18 pm ct - The grappling match continues. Shields gets himself into a dominant position on Mayhem's back. Could this fight be for the right to host season three of MTV's Bully Beatdown? Maybe so.

9:21 pm ct - Crowd is getting extremely restless as round two comes to a close. Shields appears to have a cut on his forehead.

9:24 pm ct - Shields is controlling the grappling match, but it will be hard to finish Mayhem by submission or otherwise. This looks like we could be headed for a long and drawn-out decision.

9:29 pm ct - Wow! Mayhem had Shields' back and was choking him out and the round expired. Shields was in huge trouble and looked like he was ready to tap.

9:31 pm ct - Crowd is booing and then starts a Mayhem! Mayhem! Mayhem! chant. Shields took Mayhem down to begin round four and has been laying on Mayhem the whole time. Big John stands then up. Shields looks extremely tired.

9:36 pm ct - Round five begins and they are clinched up against the fence. Shields looks very small as a middleweight and predictably so. Shields gets Mayhem's back once again. He's been able to do it numerous times in this fight. He works Mayhem to the ground for yet another takedown.

9:30 pm ct - Shields continues his relentless positioning on the ground. Gegard Mousasi walks back into the arena, takes a picture with Clay Guida, and finds a seat. The crowd is more excited about his return than the actual fight going on. Fifth round is up and this is going to the judges. These two simply cancelled each other out on the ground.

10:01 pm ct - The crowd is going crazy for Fedor and everyone is on their feet as round one begins.

10:04 pm ct - Big shots landed by Fedor and he secures a takedown. Rogers is in half guard. We'll see if Rogers has been working on his ground game. Rogers reverses and is on top! He powered himself into that position. Now Rogers is landing huge bombs! Fedor fights back and gets back on top. Awesome action so far.

10:08 pm ct - Fedor has a big cut on his nose. Round two begins. Fedor swinging for the fences with Rogers against the cage but did no significant damage. Fedor isn't exactly conserving any energy.

10:09 pm ct - Fedor lands a huge shot on Rogers and he is down! Fedor finishes him off and Big John calls the fight! The king is still the king. Alistair Overeem or Fabricio Werdum now await the Russian legend.

That's a wrap folks! What a great night of fights!

RESULTS:

Main card:

HW – Fedor Emelianenko (31 – 1, 1 NC) def. Brett Rogers (10 – 1) via TKO (strikes) Rd 2

MW Championship – Jake Shields (23 – 4 – 1) def. Jason Miller (22 – 6, 1 NC) via unanimous decision

LHW – Gegard Mousasi (27 – 2 – 1) def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (7 – 5) via TKO (strikes) - R2

HW – Fabricio Werdum (13 – 4 – 1) def. Antonio Silva (13 – 2) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary card:

Women’s (145 lbs) – Marloes Coenen def. Roxanne Modafferi via submission (armbar) - 1:05 R1

*BW - Jeff Curran def. Dustin Neace via TKO (injury) - 1:39 R1

MW - Shamar Bailey def. John Kolosci  via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

MW – Nate Moore def. Louis Taylor via TKO (strikes) - 3:24 R2

WW - Christian Uflacker def. Jonatas Novaes via unanimous decision (29-26, 30-25, 30-25)

*Curran/Nease was fought at 145-pound catchweight after Nease failed to make weight

Note: The Mark Miller vs. Deray Davis undercard fight will not take place.