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- Fedor Emelianenko VS Brett Rogers
Though many may consider men who enter an mma proving ground little more than hired human pitbulls ripping each other apart for massive money and radical amusement, I tend to reject this view via a yawn of black hole, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for but the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself. The reaction of one's opponent is the reaction to whatever one could offer as offense.
Notice that the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, pure respect spirit and related (?) intelligence may come upon, the limitless respect each fighter deserves simply by making an attempt of expressing themselves thoroughly, honestly on the proving grounds. The biggest respect one could give is the assumption that one needs every skills- and wits to neutralize the rival. A fight is nothing less than the expression of these skill sets, put though to the test utterly and completely, instead of infinitely theorizing about them. The most glorious moment of the bout emerges in the form of the ensuing peace between the fighters, a legit, palpable sensation, unifying the former enemies and the grateful audience once the collision reached its conclusion.
This is a review of the mma event Strikeforce & M1 Global: Fedor VS Rogers
Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups
As result of the UFC's recent inability to get its hands on the tremendous attraction factor represented by Fedor Emelianenko, the enigmatic Russian mixed martial artist finds himself in the position of fulfilling his contract with M1 Global - an organization he is shareholder of - by rendering the three matches he has commitment for under the label. The first of these three collisions is co-promoted with Strikeforce, putting the Last Emperor against Strikeforce notability-, unbeaten knockout artist Brett Rogers, who scored quite an upset when he stopped Andrei Arlovski by knockout, short after Fedor Emelianenko did the same thing to the same man. Not on the same night though, which probably is a fruity turn of events for the Belarusian mma veteran.
Brett Rogers thinks he has a solid chance of stopping the man who is widely regarded as the absolute best the sport has seen so far, though it is worth mentioning that Fedor himself does not think of himself as a complete fighter, let alone as the best there is. What can we anticipate? We can anticipate what we dare to.
Fabrizio Werdum VS Antonio Silva
(Unfortunate) Strikeforce acquirement Fabrizio Werdum (unfortunately) manages to take this match to (an unfortunate) decision, regardless of the good old fashioned beating that gets unleashed upon him in the first round, and, in certain portions of the second. Werdum deserves solid credit for not getting too excited and desperate-, and, for being able to turn this match around by exhibiting convincing cage presence in the third-and-final round. His ability to offer significant resistance power when in the direst of moments, is also of note. Silva is hanging in there by the third round, though with a pretty much empty gas tank. Big Foot loses a decision in a bout he was initial-, successful aggressor of, thus Fabrizio "Boooring" Werdum gets another victory to his record. I start to get impatient regarding my anticipation factor about seeing this - in my opinion - highly overrated fighter being eaten alive by a random cosmic horror from outer space. Joking, of course. I would be content if I were to see Werdum compete against top level opposition, against which he would be utterly crushed, in my current opinion. Nothing against Werdum - except he currently is boring to watch and his style lacks all forms of beauty I am able to pick up on.
Gegard Mousasi VS Sokoudjou
Sokoudjou looks quite efficient in the first round, managing to turn down the volume knob of the cage confidence Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi handles himself with on the proving ground. A talent of steep and solid promises, no doubt, Mousasi finds the antidote against The African Assassin in the second round, ground and pounding a stoppage on him, as result of negating the defenses of the talented Judo practitioner. Observation: Sokoudjou seems to find relatively scare success in top level mixed martial arts.
Jake Shields VS Jason Miller
In this match of bitterly/lazily/miserably balanced canvas molestation, Jake Shields wins a decision victory to gain the Champions' Belt of I Can't Be Bothered to Look Up Which Division. Not a match to please the crowd, but it sure was suitable at giving you the time of preparing yourself for the main event of the evening: Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko VS Brett "The Grim" Rogers.
Fedor Emelianenko VS Brett Rogers
In the very first exchange, Rogers lands a shot that cuts the nose of Fedor, forcing the Last Emperor to breath through the mouth. This act - the breathing through the mouth - always delivers the impression that the one with the damaged nose is exhausted and it is the same with the Last Emperor. Fedor though remains patient in the clinch the two end up in, landing a solid left hook midway in the first round, a strike that invites The Grim to territories he was scarcely seen it so far: the territories of desperate defense. One must admit, Rogers seemed pretty efficient at absorbing punishment. When the two end up on the ground, - courtesy of the subsequent maneuvers The Last Emperor coats his impressive left hook into - Rogers seems to be more competent on the ground than consensus regarded him to be. He defends a kimura attempt from - naturally - Fedor, and finds success at landing some solid shots on his opponent of enigmatic stature, just in time Fedor seems to invite him to a little more less intense period for the time being.
The Last Emperor is quick and efficient at improving on his position before consecutive shots would connect. An armbar attempt from Fedor is about to say hello for fruition, yet the stand up period finds an exhausted Rogers. Since Brett does not show too much eagerness to stand up, Fedor engages him on the ground. In the ensuing - logically - ground game, Fedor goes for another submission attempt, then tries something spectacular, releasing an air to ground missile from above, which Rogers JUST defends. Let's hack reality though and let us scrutinize moments of action packed efficiency, performed by The Grim. Here are the solid ground and pound shots Rogers greeted Fedor with:
The second round witnesses a more aggressive Fedor, finding success at introducing Russian Polar Bear ethics to The Grim, who, one must admit, proves to be quite efficient at withstanding the blows, though shows minimal success at not being emotionally affected by the reigning bombs he was subjected to. Here is the gif animation on how this nice sequence went down:
The fight remains faithful to the idea of the clinch, up to the point from which Rogers shows readiness to cultivate the stand-up with the engaging process included. He backpedals, getting himself ready to encounter The Last Emperor, who is about to state his radical verdict on The Grim and here is how it went down:
Fedor reigns supreme, Brett Rogers tastes defeat for the first time and it is obvious that he is not liking it. What other challenge the Strikeforce organization will deliver to Fedor Emelianenko via the two subsequent matches The Last Emperor has his current contract for - remains to be seen. There are rumors about Dan Henderson joining the Strikeforce roster in the near future. Fedor VS Henderson? That would be a good pick, no doubt.
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