Cage won't cramp style, Emelianenko says

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Cage won't cramp style, Emelianenko says

Russian heavyweight confident prior to Strikeforce debut against Rogers



Fedor Emelianenko doesn't think he'll have trouble adapting to fighting in a cage.

The gridiron might be a different story.

The Russian considered the best heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world will compete in a cage for the first time Saturday when he fights Brett Rogers in the main event of a Strikeforce card in Chicago.

Emelianenko, who has fought in a ring for his entire career, said he is not worried about moving into a more enclosed environment.

"I think my submission and striking doesn't depend on where it takes place, ring or cage," he said through an interpreter on a conference call Monday.

He spent Sunday on the sideline at Soldier Field watching the Chicago Bears host the Cleveland Browns as part of the promotional campaign for the network broadcast of his Strikeforce debut on CBS. The network unveiled several promos that aired throughout its NFL broadcasts Sunday.

"I found the football game interesting, but the games which I watched on TV were more interesting and exciting" he said, adding that he's unsure how his skills would translate to football. "It seems to be easy watching from the sidelines, but I don't think I would have enough energy to play. Plus, I don't know the rules very good."

The card will air tape delayed on CBS (Channel 8) at 9 p.m. Saturday.

? UFC 106 -- A co-main event was added to the Nov. 21 UFC card at Mandalay Bay in an attempt to fill the void created by the loss of Brock Lesnar. Josh Koscheck will take on Anthony Johnson in a matchup of rising welterweight contenders.

Johnson just fought Oct. 24 at UFC 104, scoring a 41-second knockout over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. He missed weight by 6 pounds for that fight and said afterward he wanted to fight again quickly to atone for his blunder.

UFC 106 is headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, a bout that was elevated to the main event when Lesnar had to pull out of his heavyweight title defense against Shane Carwin because of illness.

The organization hopes to reschedule that bout for UFC 108 on Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand.

? WEC 46 -- World Extreme Cagefighting announced it will return to Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 10 for a lightweight title unification bout between champion Jamie Varner and interim champion Ben Henderson.

Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber will also return to action on the card after rehabilitating from a broken right hand and a dislocated left hand suffered in June. He will face Raphael Assuncao.

The WEC will conduct two cards at the Palms in Las Vegas prior to that event. WEC 44 will take place Nov. 18, and WEC 45 is scheduled Dec. 19. Two fights were announced for WEC 45 this week.

The main will be a lightweight bout between Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff, and newly signed lightweight Chris Horodecki will meet rising star Anthony Njokuani.

All three events will be broadcast live on Versus (Cable 67).

 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

 

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LAS VEGAS SUN FIGHTING

 

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Hobby sprouts into livelihood

Hobby sprouts into livelihood

Hobby sprouts into livelihood

Rogers awaits big challenge in Strikeforce bout


It took just a matter of seconds for Brett Rogers to realize what his stunning destruction of Andrei Arlovski would mean for him and his family.

That's also about how long it took for the victory to happen.

Rogers knocked out the former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion in 22 seconds in June, and his life changed forever.

Just before the fight, he quit his job changing tires at Sam's Club. The sponsorships and offers that would come his way as a result of the win meant Rogers could make a career out of mixed martial arts.

"I knew it was going to change my life right after that win," said the 28-year-old father of three, who dashed triumphantly around the cage after the knockout. "Right after that, life changed. I had interviews to do, offers for movies and TV shows. It was crazy."

Rogers can solidify a lucrative career Saturday night when he takes on Fedor Emelianenko in the main event of a Strikeforce card from Chicago on CBS.

Emelianenko, who's 30-1 with the lone loss coming because of a cut, remains an unknown quantity in the United States, but he widely is considered the world's best heavyweight fighter.

Rogers said he will avoid getting caught up in the mystique that surrounds the Russian star -- a mistake that he thinks others make against Emelianenko, who is more than a 6-1 favorite.

"In the long run, he's just another fighter. I'm not going into this fight like I'm fighting Fedor," Rogers said. "I'm going in just fighting another man. That probably scares him."

It's easy to understand why Rogers wouldn't be intimidated. He spent a portion of his early childhood in the notorious Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago before his grandmother moved him to Minnesota at age 12. Rogers credits that decision with putting him on a path to success. Otherwise, he thinks he might have ended up in a gang.

Once settled in a more stable environment, the 6-foot-5-inch, 280-pound Rogers thrived in athletics in high school and played junior college basketball.

Then he found MMA.

"When I first started, it was basically just a hobby," he said. "Now, I'm about to fight the number one guy in the world."

That's the title Rogers wants for himself.

"My hopes are just to become the best heavyweight in the world," he said. "There are a lot of guys that people think are better than me. I hope to take them out one at a time."

Rogers has built a 10-0 record, and only two opponents have made it out of the first round. Both were beaten early in the second round.

"One of his great advantages is his fairly strong knockout punch," Emelianenko said through a translator on a conference call. "I know Brett is a serious opponent."

Rogers has been able to shift his focus entirely to training the past six months.

For 51/2 years, he had to find time to work in training sessions and fights between odd shifts at Sam's Club and various other part-time jobs he took on to support his wife and three children.

Now, he is able to provide for them through fighting alone. He has purchased his first home in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb with the money he will make Saturday night.

"I love them to death. They're my motivation," he said of his 9- and 8-year-old daughters and 5-year-old son. "There's not a second that goes by that I'm not thinking about them when I'm in the cage."

Rogers said his children are among his biggest fans.

"They understand that Daddy is a fighter and this is what he does. They tell me, 'Daddy, go kick his butt,' " he said. "They know I'm fighting this weekend. My grandma is taking care of them. I'm pretty sure they will sit around and watch it."

The card, which also features a middleweight title bout between Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, will air tape delayed at 9 p.m.

 

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PRIME-TIME SMACKDOWN: CBS: Star power packs punch

PRIME-TIME SMACKDOWN: CBS: Star power packs punch

PRIME-TIME SMACKDOWN: CBS: Star power packs punch

Network eagerly jumps back into MMA



CBS drew solid ratings in prime time last year by airing fight cards headlined by an Internet sensation.

Tonight, the No. 1 network will see how the sport can do with a broadcast built around an actual fighting star.

EliteXC programs on the network, centered on street fighter Kimbo Slice, were deemed a success by CBS.

But when Slice was defeated in 14 seconds in his second appearance on the network, the fledgling promotion went out of business.

Apparently, that experience has not soured CBS on mixed martial arts. The network has teamed with Strikeforce and will air a card from Chicago tonight.

It is headlined by Fedor Emelianenko, who was signed by Strikeforce in August. The heavyweight is ranked as the world's top fighter by many of the pound-for-pound polls and will take on long shot Brett Rogers in the main event.

"First and foremost, the level of talent we have on this card far surpasses anything we had (before)," said Kelly Kahl, the senior executive vice president of prime-time programming for CBS. "We had some great fighters the first time through, but when you look at the talent level, starting with Fedor, it speaks for itself."

Slice headlined two of the three prime-time EliteXC broadcasts on CBS. Those shows got what the network deemed respectable ratings, especially in key advertising demographics.

"I think everybody (at the network) looked at the numbers and saw what the possibilities were," Kahl said. "We drew some of the highest male demographic numbers and saw the potential for what it could be. Unfortunately, we were hooked up with a business that just wasn't built for the long haul."

Kahl said he thinks the signing of Emelianenko only enhanced Strikeforce's viability.

"I think it helped with the timing of when to come back. When it became apparent that we could probably get Fedor to headline the first show back, it kind of fell into place," he said. "Having the number-one fighter on the number-one network had a nice ring to it."

Strikeforce is not the first company to try to market Emelianenko to a U.S. audience. He has competed for Bodog Fights and Affliction in recent years, but he has failed to bring in the type of pay-per-view numbers his ability would indicate.

Both companies subsequently got out of the fight promotion business.

Strikeforce chief executive officer Scott Coker insists his company is different because it is entirely focused on MMA.

"Believe me, it's something that if you compare us to the other companies that have gone out of business, I really don't think it's justice," he said on a conference call. "The other companies, that wasn't their core business. We're not a T-shirt company (Affliction); we're not a gambling company (Bodog). This is our core competency, and this is what we've done for many years."

Strikeforce has been promoting martial arts events from its San Jose, Calif., offices for nearly 20 years, making it one of the oldest companies in the business. This is a big step up into the mainstream for the company.

"It definitely helps with CBS helping us out," Coker said. "I've seen a lot of spots on their college football, on the SEC and on the pro sports. I saw some spots on 'Survivor,' and that's getting to a whole other audience that aren't traditionally MMA fans and that MMA marketing doesn't get to. So we're very thankful for that."

Kahl said the deal calls for three or four live Strikeforce shows on Saturday nights in the next year but that it's set up to be a long-term deal if both sides are happy with how things are progressing.

He said with the star heavyweight in the mix, that is a likely scenario.

"I don't think there's any question as to Fedor's legitimacy," Kahl said. "There's nobody that questions how good he is."

He finally will get a chance to prove it to a mainstream audience tonight. The card, which also features a middleweight title bout between Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, will air tape-delayed at 9 p.m. (Channel 8). A light heavyweight bout between Gegard Mousasi and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou also is featured.