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Strikefoce Staruday Night Fights Fedor vs. Rogers: breakdown and prediction
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Live Saturday Night November 7th, from the Sears Centre Arena near Chicago, Illinois, fight fans all over will be treated to one of the best fight cards of the year featuring arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Fedor Emelianenko. To make things even better the fights will be aired free on CBS.
Before we get to the fights let us applaud Strikeforce for taking the opportunity afforded by CBS and putting forth an incredible card with some fan friendly matchups. UFC may still be king but if Strikeforce can continue to put cards together like this one, they may be able to apply pressure to the MMA giant.
Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
This matchup features arguably the best heavyweight grappler, Fabricio Werdum, taking on the first and only heavyweight champion for the now defunct Elite XC, Antonio Silva. Silva will be coming in as the bigger man his will be at a distinct skill disadvantage to Werdum.
Werdum has more experience and has fought tougher competition throughout his career, and even holds a win over current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Werdum is going to look to take Silva out of his element and put him on his back where he can utilize his amazing submission skills.
Werdum wins via 2nd round submission.
Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (7-4)
The DREAM Super Hulk semi-final match that never was will now be played out for all to see live on CBS. Mousasi was forced pull out of their first scheduled meeting due to an injury, but is healthy now and ready to make a statement.
Sokoudjou is a former US Open judo champion and he trains with Team Quest in Temecula, California. He is an explosive athlete but has a habit of displaying poor cardio inside the cage. Mousasi is the current Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion and is one of Fedor Emelianenko’s striking coaches. Mousasi presents that kind of well-rounded attack that opponents have nightmare of.
Look for Sokoudjou to open up will a flurry and exhaust his energy. Mousasi will pick his shots and once he sees Sokoudjou in trouble he will capitalize and end the fight.
Mousasi wins via 1st round TKO.
Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6)
This matchup will be for the recently vacated Strikeforce middleweight title and it should be a dandy. The problem for me with this matchup is that both of these fighters are essentially welterweights so it diminishes what the title means just a little bit.
Miller, like Sokoudjou, is a Team Quest product but now trains out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Jason “Mayhem” Miller may be best known for his work hosting MTV’s reality series Bully Beatdown. Mayhem is well-rounded and 13 of his 22 victories have come by way of submission.
The Cesar Gracie trained Shields is a BJJ ace as well as a two time All American wrestler from Cuesta College. Jake Shields has won multiple grappling tournaments throughout his career and is currently riding a 12-fight win streak, the final eight all coming by stoppage.
This matchup has me drooling quite frankly because I truly enjoy watching top grapplers compete against each other inside of the cage. Mayhem has the striking advantage but I don’t see him being able to keep the fight standing long enough to put it to use. Once this fight hits the mat it will be a chess match. The grappling background that Shields brings to the table will just be too much for Mayhem to contend with.
Jake Shields wins via unanimous decision.
Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
The main event of the evening features undefeated up and comer Brett Rogers squaring off against the best in the business Fedor Emelianenko. This is the proverbial David vs. Goliath matchup with the exception being that this Goliath is the much smaller man.
Rogers is a mountain of a man just making the 265lb heavyweight limit and standing at 6’5” tall. The Grim, as Rogers is also known, has devastating power in his hands and he has yet to even see the third round of a fight. In Rogers’ last outing he dispensed of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in a mere 22 seconds.
Fedor is perhaps the least intimidating fighter in all of MMA as far as looks are concerned, but looks can be deceiving as “The Last Emperor” has beat a who’s who of MMA elite. The lone blemish on Fedor’s record came via stoppage due to a cut from an illegal elbow. That fight should have been rules a No Contest but because of the tournament format a winner had to be declared and since Fedor could not continue he was given the loss.
Rogers is essentially out matched going into this fight as Fedor has fought and defeated much larger men and more accomplished strikers. One thing to keep in mind is this will be the first fight in Fedor’s career that takes place inside of a cage so the change in environment could play a role in this fight. To be quite honest, Rogers really only has a puncher chance to come out on top.
Fedor wins this via 1st round submission.
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