MMA fans make sure and mark November 7th down on your calendars. That is the night that mixed martial arts makes its return to primetime as CBS along with Strikeforce present a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers.
As of right now Strikeforce has not released where this fight will take place but putting a fight of this magnitude on free television is a great move for the organization.
While the hardcore MMA fans are familiar with Emelianenko, it is the casual fans Strikeforce is after. The same fans who made Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano into a ratings bonanza. This will allow the general public to get familiar with the man many consider to be the greatest heavyweight of all time.
The UFC can counter program all they want but it's hard to combat something of this magnitude when it is being given away for free. Try as they might, the UFC is running out of options. A potential third show in November to go along with UFC 105 and 106 looks like it will fall to the wayside due to Rampage Jackson backing out of his bout with Rashad Evans at UFC 107.
By taking on the role of B.A. Baracus in the film adaptation of "The A-Team", Jackson has forced the UFC to move a bout between UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and the number one contender, Diego Sanchez to the main event of UFC 107. It is widely believed that the UFC was going to use this bout on a third show in November to go up against a Strikeforce event.
Emelianenko's opponent, Brett Rogers is no stranger to CBS as he fought on EliteXC's Primetime back in 2008. The world was introduced to "The Grim" at his best as he knocked out Jon Murphy in just 61 seconds.
The announcers for this event will be Gus Johnson, Frank Shamrock and Mauro Renallo. There will be a total of four fights shown on the televised portion of the card. As soon as a venue and other bouts are announced, I will report them here.
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