Fedor Vs Rogers

Earlier today, Strikeforce announced the first opponent for #1 Ranked Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. The man simply known as Fedor has compiled a record of 30 wins, with 1 loss and 1 no contest to his name.

Recently, the Affliction MMA promotion closed its' doors after having to cancel their Trilogy event. With Josh Barnett testing positive and being denied his license by the California State Athletic Commission, everything turned into a giant mess. Originally, rumors were that Affliction was looking to find a replacement to fight Fedor. Names tossed around included former UFC fighter Jeff Monson, currently signed UFC Middleweight Vitor "the Phenom" Belfort, and Strikeforce standout, Brett Rogers.

Unfortunately for fans of Affliction, the promotion instead closed up shop and signed a deal with the UFC to return as a sponsor. Fans began speculation that The Last Emperor would be headed to the UFC, which many believe to be the only legitimate promotion in America.

Things would not work out favorably for the UFC fans though, as Fedor Emelianenko signed a contract with Strikeforce prior to their landmark Carano Vs Cyborg event, which crowned Cris Cyborg as the first ever Women's 145 Pound Champion of the promotion.

With names like Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem, a lot of people had overlooked once again, the talented big man known appropriately as "The Grim". Brett Rogers was announced earlier today as the first opponent for Fedor in Strikeforce, with the bout taking place sometime this fall.

Rogers is 10-0 in his career, having stopped all of his fights before they went to a decision. Notable wins for The Grim include KO victories over James Thompson and Jon "the Sherpa" Murphy in EliteXC. Most impressive though, was his 22 second destruction of former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andrei Arlovski in June.

The negative talk from a lot of MMA fans about Fedor has been that he is "dodging competition" by signing with Strikeforce instead of the UFC. But the question I pose to you is this: Is the difference in challengers for Fedor, between the two promotions, really that large? I plan on doing a long piece on that soon, but I would like to get your thoughts as well.