"StrikeForce: Fedor vs. Rogers" Main Card Predictions

November 7, 10:03 AMSan Jose MMA ExaminerPhil Lanides

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Rogers and Fedor face off at the weigh-ins
StrikeForce/Esther Lin

“StrikeForce: Fedor vs. Rogers” emanates live from the Sears Center in Chicago, IL, and there could not be much more riding on this event for the San Jose-based MMA promotion. Millions of eyes will be on this card, and specifically the main event. Can Fedor Emelianenko finally prove that he is a true draw in the sport, as he makes his network TV debut? Will CBS pull in the ratings that EliteXC did? Will StrikeForce marketing efforts prove fruitful? These questions and more will be answered tonight. According to StrikeForce CEO Scott Coker, the venue is nearly sold out at this point, and probably will be (if not even closer) once fight time hits. Every main card fighter made weight, so without further ado, here are my main card picks:

Antonio Silva (13-1) vs. Fabricio Werdun (12-4-1): Silva is a massive heavyweight, one of the breed that has to cut weight to make the 265 lbs. heavyweight limit. Werdun is no small fry himself, and has an arguable advantage in big-fight experience. The deciding difference in this fight, however, will be revealed as soon as these two his the mat. Werdun is world-class on the ground, while Silva has a lot to learn. Look for Werdun to use his grappling skills to secure the tapout and a date with the winner of Fedor-Rogers for the next crack at the StrikeForce Heavyweight belt - Werdun by submission

Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (7-4): Mousasi made a big splash in his American debut, stopping former StrikeForce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral with strikes on the ground at “StrikeForce: Carano vs. Cyborg” in August to take the belt. Sokoudjou was at one point the “next big thing,” as he demolished Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in PRIDE early in his career. Now these two, who seem to be headed in different directions on the path to MMA glory, will collide with much at stake. Sokoudjou must prove he still is a top talent, while Mousasi will be looking to show the American audience that his decimation of “Babalu” was no fluke. I expect the latter - Mousasi by TKO

Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller (22-6): “Bully Beatdown” host Miller will unfortunately fall victim to the bullying ground game of Shields. Miller is tough as nails, and will never quit (think back to the absolute shellacking he took at the hands of Georges St-Pierre in the UFC), but he is facing a dominant wrestler with an underrated submission game. Shields’ game may not be the most exciting, and his stand-up needs to improve before he really proves he belongs amongst the best of the best, but that won’t matter against a jack-of-all-trades like “Mayhem.” Expect Shields to take Miller down, and do enough to grind out the decision victory - Shields by decision

Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0): “A puncher’s chance”…the term has been used over and over again to hype a fighter that really doesn’t have a legitimate chance of winning. Brett Rogers is a big man, a full-blown heavyweight, with KO power in both hands. But he really doesn’t belong in the same cage as “The Last Emperor.” Fedor has faced bigger men, fighters with more established records, and brutes with more punching power (at least in theory) than Rogers. They’ve all gone down. Save for an eyes-closed right hand from Kazuyuki Fujita, Fedor has never really even been in trouble in a fight. His aggression, stand-up skills, and ground game are second to none…and “The Grim” is about to find out all about it. Unless he gets lucky - Fedor by KO

I expect this event to do quite well, even with the UFC counter-programming with some past main events. This will be a huge step for StrikeForce, and will help the promotion take some tremendous strides. And almost as importantly, I predict that Fedor’s status as an enigma to the casual American MMA fans will finally change.

Some of the other MMA Examiners have also posted their own fight predictions, which can be found here:

National MMA Examiner Eddie Graveline: http://www.examiner.com/x-902-Mixed-Martial-Arts-Examiner~y2009m11d5-Strikeforce-Fedor-vs-Rogers-predictions-Fedor-Shields-Werdum-and-Mousasi-will-submit-opponents?cid=examiner-email  

Tampa MMA Examiner Doug Drexler: http://www.examiner.com/x-7825-Tampa-MMA-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Strikeforce-Fedor-vs-Rogers--Previews-and-predictions?cid=examiner-email  

Long Island MMA Examiner Bryan Levick: http://www.examiner.com/x-15531-Long-Island-MMA-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Strikeforce-Fedor-vs-Rogers-predictions?cid=examiner-email  

Raleigh MMA Examiner Kelvin Hunt: http://www.examiner.com/x-24984-Raleigh-MMA-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Strikeforce-preview-Fedor-Emelianenko-vs-Brett-Rogers?cid=examiner-email  

Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner Scott Heritage: http://www.examiner.com/x-20066-Pittsburgh-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m11d5-StrikeForce-Fedor-vs-Rogers-predictions?cid=examiner-email  

Newark MMA Examiner Joe Rizzo: http://www.examiner.com/x-25794-Newark-MMA-Examiner~y2009m11d7-Strikeforce-Fedor-vs-Rogers-predictions?cid=examiner-email