Showtime: Fedor to fight Brett Rogers

August 26, 2009 | Tim | Comments 0

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According to the Showtime website, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced today that Fedor Emelianenko’s first opponent would be Brett Rogers. Rogers was rumored to be a front runner to be the first challenge for Fedor, along with Fabricio Werdum.

Emelianenko signed a contract with Strikeforce earlier this month after Afflicton folded their MMA promotion. He was scheduled to fight Josh Barnett at an event scheduled for August 1st, however Barnett failed his pre-fight drug test and was not going to be allowed to fight. A search went on to find an opponent for Emelianenko, and his manager, Vadim Finkelstein, said they wanted Rogers.

“We personally entertain the idea of having Brett Rogers step in since he knocked Andrei Arlovski out…If logistics weren’t an issue, we’d like to see Fedor fight against Brett Rogers. Fans want it (and) so do we.”

The event scheduled for August 1st was cancelled when Affliction folded, but now it appears that Fedor and his management will get the fight that they wanted.

The hard-hitting Rogers is 10-0 in his MMA career, and is coming off a 1st round knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields in June. He certainly has a puncher’s chance, but it’ll be interesting to see how his limited ground game will match up with Fedor’s.

No date has been announced for Fedor’s first Strikeforce appearance, though Scott Coker recently said they were looking at November as a possibility.

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