Oklahoma, City, OK– The night before the big event on CBS, Showtime will continue its “Strikeforce Challengers Series,” which is basically an MMA version of “Shobox: The New Generation.” The card will be headlined by Billy Evangelista (9-0, 4 KOs) vs. UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel (13-5, 9 SUBs). Evangelista should walk away with a decision win here. Brandon Cash (5-0, 3 KOs, 1 SUB) vs. Shane Del Rosario (8-0, 7 KOs, 1 SUB) Luke Rockhold (5-1, 5 SUBs) vs. Jesse Taylor (13-4, 4 KOs, 6 SUBs) Ousmane Thomas Diagne (1-0) vs. Warren Merritt (2-3, 2 SUBs) with females Elisha Helsper (0-1) vs. Zoila Frausto (3-0).
FEDOR ON CBS TV SATURDAY NIGHT FOR YOU TO SEE
Live from the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago, IL, CBS brings you Strikeforce and Fedor Emelianenko; Stary Oskol, Belgorod, Russia (30-1, 7 KOs, 16 SUBs) vs. Brett Rogers; St. Paul, Minnesota (10-0, 9 KOs, 1 SUB) Finally, Fedor will make his Strikeforce premiere as well as his debut to most U.S. fans. He will do it against the undefeated heavy handed knockout specialist Brett Rogers. Don’t blink as Fedor somehow wins again in apparently easy fashion. That being said, I still give Rogers a serious punchers chance. Prediction: Emelianenko by Submission.
MIDDLEWEIGHT (185 LBS) TITLE SCRAP
Jake Shields, San Francisco, CA, (23-4-1, 3 KOs, 10 SUBs) vs. Jason Miller, Las Vegas, Nevada (22-6, 4 KOs, 13 SUBs) Shields impressed many with his submission victory over former Strikeforce middleweight champ, Robbie Lawler (16-5, 13 KOs, 1 SUB). As with many of the top tier submission fighters, once you hit the mat with Shields (or even get into a clinch), you are almost always in quite a bit of trouble. Shields wins here!
Matthew Grizzle