'Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers' Live Results

(The two pictures above contain 246 differences. Can you find them all? Photo courtesy of Esther Lin / Strikeforce)

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Fedor night in America. The Last Emperor show has come to the Chicagoland Area, and his dance partner for this evening will be lead-fisted work-doer Brett "The Grim" Rogers, who's just itching for a chance to snatch that king spot. Also: MTV personality Jason "Mayhem" Miller fights Jake Shields for Strikeforce's first middleweight title, large-skulled bruiser Antonio Silva squares off with grappling ace Fabricio Werdum, and Gegard Mousasi will toy with Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou for a while before damn near ending his life.

My name is BG, and I'll be your guide for the evening. I'm currently chillin' in the press pen at the Sears Centre, and I can already tell you that Fedor's entrance music will be unbelievably Russian. Live results from the CBS broadcast can be found after the jump, beginning at 8 p.m. CT. Refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. Warning: The show may not be broadcast live in your area, so check your local listings before you go running headlong into spoilers.

Special thanks to Neal Taflinger and E. Casey Leydon for keeping me company before the event. Princes among men, the both of them.

Preliminary card results
- Christian Uflacker def. Jonatas Novaes via unanimous decision (30-25 x 2, 29-26) [Novaes was docked two points in round three for kicks to the head on the ground]
- Nate Moore def. Louis Taylor via submission (strikes), 3:24 of round 2 
- Shamar Bailey def. John Kolosci via unanimous decision (29-27 x 3) [Bailey was docked one point in round two for a knee strike to Kolosci's head while he was on the ground]
- Jeff Curran def. Dustin Neace via TKO (injury, possibly a broken rib after a knee in the clinch), 1:39 of round 1

Roxanne Modafferi vs. Marloes Coenen
I think this is worth a proper play-by-play. Modafferi comes out to some insanely peppy J-pop. Thankfully, she seems to have her exitable energy under control at the moment. Coenen is steely-eyed, and has a rose garden tattoed on her ribs. Holy crap, her thousand-yard stare during the faceoff has me intimidated. She's in another world right now.

Round 1: Coenen with a hard teep. She gets the better of Roxy in a striking exhange, landing a big knee. Coenen punches Roxy to the mat, but Roxy manages to get on top in the ground-scramble, and tries to get her bearings in Coenen's guard. Coenen grabs the armbar and finishes it with ease. Coenen bows to the crowd. Roxy manages to work up a smile for her opponent.
Coenen def. Modafferi via submission (armbar), 1:05 of round 1

There was a fight scheduled between Mark Miller and Deray Davis for the prelims, but it doesn't look like it's happening. Swing bout, maybe.

And it's time to get this party started...

Fabricio Werdum vs. Antonio Silva
Bigfoot's jaw is ready for war. He'll have a four-inch reach advantage here. Both fighters get a nice pop from the crowd. Did they show the EA MMA preview yet? We aren't getting much on the screens in the arena...though Miguel Torres and Clay Guida are currently in spitting distance, so that makes up for it.

Round 1: Werdum whiffs a head kick. They clash with punches. Silva lands a left. Werdum gets rocked coming forward, and Silva hacks him to the ground with punches. Bigfoot laying on the GnP, but Werdum grabs onto a leg to slow down the abuse, and makes his way to his feet. Leg kick Werdum. Werdum punched again coming forward. Werdum misses another head kick and comes in for a clinch. Werdum tries to take it to the ground, but Silva avoids and lets Werdum back up. Nice 1-2 combo from Werdum, and he clinches. Werdum punches him off. Werdum with a punch, kick, and clinch. They separate and Werdum lands another good punch. Silva with a leg kick. They tie up against the fence. Silva with a hard elbow and Werdum goes down. Silva follows, then thinks better of it and lets Werdum up. There's the horn. I'd say 10-9 Silva for dropping Werdum twice.

Round 2: Werdum comes in slugging, but gets dropped by a Silva counter-punch. Werdum upkicking. Silva standing above him, deciding what to do. He goes in, and Werdum immediately reverses his big ass. Silva escapes from the bottom and takes a knee on the way up. Silva clinches and pushes Werdum against the fence. They hold each other in a stalemate until the ref separates them. Silva clinches again and they're back against the fence. Werdum tries some dirty boxing, then takes Silva down with a single-leg. Werdum in half-guard. He passes to side control. Silva escapes and tries to scramble out, and Werdum grabs a leg. Silva slips out and the round ends.

Round 3: Leg kick Werdum. Silva returns it. Werdum slips a punch but eats a knee. Werdum misses an uppercut and clinches. They separate. Werdum nails the single-leg takedown and starts his own ground-and-pound campaign on Silva's back. Silva crawls to the cage and almost gives up his neck, but returns to his feet. Silva lands a nice punch combo, and Werdum returns a knee to the dome. Werdum with a knee from the thai clinch against the fence. Werdum with a short right. Werdum seems to hurt Silva with a knee and the big man goes down. Werdum on Silva's back again, throwing punches. Silva rolls, and Werdum is in half guard. He tries for an arm-triangle choke, and goes back to punching when it doesn't pan out. And the last bell sounds. Easy 10-9 for Werdum. This could be a close one...

Fabricio Werdum def. Antonio Silva via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
 
We all knew Werdum was a sick grappler, but I was surprised how sharp his standup looked. Good show against a tough opponent.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Round 1: Gegard throws his hands up, Diaz style. Soko comes in with a fast leg kick. High kick Mousasi. Soko with a body kick. He fires an uppercut. Mousasi stalking, and gets popped with a left hook, but kicks Soko in the nuts at the same time. Soko takes a quick break, then Gegard brushes his nuts again, and Soko takes another couple seconds. No warning from the ref, strangely. Nice leg kick from Soko, and again. Mousasi rushes in with punches, but Soko scores a takedown and gets on top. He wraps an arm around Mousasi's neck, and Mousasi reverses him, getting into half guard and throwing knees. Soko gets out and gets on top of Mousasi against the fence. He almost locks in a guillotine, but settles for a knee to Mousasi's head. He tosses Mousasi to the ground, and Mousasi trips him to the ground with his feet (!) and gets on top to close the frame.

Round 2: Mousasi stalks forward and clinches. Soko pushes Mousasi against the cage. Mousasi throwing knees into Soko's legs. Dirty boxing from both guys, and Mousasi starts teeing off. Soko throws back a few of his own and they clinch again. Soko gets Mousasi to the ground and lands in half-guard. Mousasi uses Soko's arm to reverse him, and the crowd politely applauds. My God this educated crowd! Mousai throwing down heat from above. Soko turtles, and it's over. Much tougher fight for Sweet Sassy than we all anticipated, but his skill on the ground eventually won the day.

Gegard Mousasi def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO, 3:43 of round 2.

Jake Shields vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller
Avowed atheist Jason Miller comes out in priestly robes, then tosses them off to get down with his hoochie-squad. He just beat up the bully that is boredom. Jake Shields is drawing a rather unfair amount of boos. Miller's style is listed as "Slap Boxing." Jerry Millen's haircut passes in front of me, followed by Jerry Millen himself.

Round 1: Shields shoots and plows Miller into the cage. Mayhem is on his ass, trying to extricate himself. Shields is on him like an octopus. He gets Mayhem's back, and throws some punches into the side of Miller's head. Miller rolls and Shields is on top in mount. But Miller powers his way up. Shields tries to drag him back to the mat, and succeeds. Shields throws some punches into Miller's ribs, and Miller gives a "big freakin deal" gesture to the crowd. He's clearly not happy with how this is playing out. Miller gets to his feet, then picks Shields up and slams him. Miller in Shield's guard. He gets up and tries to throw down a death blow, but Shields dodges it and gets out. Miller grabs him for another body slam. Miller sets up on Shields's back as the round ends.

Round 2: They clinch, exchanging knees. Miller grabs Shields's back, and pulls him to the ground, but Shields works his way on top of Miller. Miller nearly escapes, but Shields takes Miller's back in a scramble. Miller escapes, and they're tangled on the mat, Shields setting up a crucifix variation from the bottom. Shields transitions to top position. Miller rolls and Shields almost sinks in the rear-naked choke. Miller escapes, gets to his feet, and goes back  in. Shields looks for a leg lock. Miller gets on top and the round ends. Interesting to see Miller holding his own with Shields in a grappling battle.

Round 3: Miller scores the takedown, but Shields is quickly on his feet. Shields takes Miller down and lands in side-control. He scores mount, but Miller wriggles out and Shields goes back to half-guard. Mount again. Shields fires down some punches. Miller rolls and Shields is on his back. Miller reverses. He gets up and throws a spinning backfist. They clinch on the fence, and Big John pauses the action for Miller's glove to be retaped. McCarthy starts them back in the clinch position, and Shields gets another takedown. Miller gets up briefly before they're back on the ground again. Miller takes Shields's back and wraps up the rear-naked choke. Shields is doomed -- but the horn saves him!

Round 4: Mayhem attacks with strikes. Shields scores another takedown and the crowd boos. Shields has Miller pressed against the cage, but isn't doing much. The crowd chants "Miller." Big John stands 'em. Miller rushes in with some nice knees, but Shields quickly gets it back to his comfort zone. He transitions to side control, then mount. Shields looking for the arm triangle. Miller bucks out, but Shields takes his back. Miller rolls again and almost escapes. Shields stays on him, and gets back into side control. He throws some punches to the side of Miller's head, and the round ends.

Round 5: They come out boxing. Miller shakes off a takedown attempt. Shields lands it this time, but Miller pops back up, with Shields on his back. Shields pulls him back down and scores mount. Miller rolls and Shields is on his back. Shields softening him up with punches. They sit up and Shields tries to sink the choke, but Miller reverses. Miller tries for a guillotine, but Shields pulls out and moves to side control. Miller gets up, Shields stays on his back and drags him down. Miller gets up, throws some punches, and shakes off a takedown attempt as the last horn sounds. Shields probably won the fight, but he certainly didn't win the crowd.

Jake Shields def. Jason Miller via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46 x 2)
The new Strikeforce middleweight champion makes his way through the crowd. Many of the fans in attendance inform him that he sucks.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers
And Rogers is getting booed too? Chicago got no love for an underdog. He looks around, taking it all in. Mike Reilly slaps the shit out of Grim to remind him where he is. And what did I tell you about Fedor’s entrance music? Midnight is upon us. The arena goes dark. The crowd is blood-crazy.

Round 1: They both swing. Fedor catches Grim off balance and tosses him to the mat. Rogers gets up and clinches with Fedor against the fence. Rogers grabs the cage, and Big John warns him. Fedor pushes off and lands a monster left, rocking Rogers. Fedor takes him to the mat and starts pounding. Rogers locks Fedor’s body down, slowing the punishment. Rogers reverses and gets in Fedor’s guard, then starts firing down. Fedor almost gets the armbar. He escapes and gets back on top of Rogers. Fedor sets up the arm-triangle, but Rogers slips out. Rogers kicks Fedor off. Fedor dives in with a punch, landing in Rogers’s guard. The first round ends, and it was a thriller.

Round 2: Fedor comes in with an overhand right then clinches. He gets some distance and starts throwing bombs. They clinch again. Fedor pushes Rogers off after taking a knee. Fedor lands the overhand right from hell and it is fucking over. Right on the button. Fedor throws a few more shots on the ground to finish it, but it's already done.

Fedor Emelianenko def. Brett Rogers via TKO, 1:48 of round 2

Fedor says Brett Rogers is a great opponent and would actually accept a rematch with him. He says the victory was for everybody. What a guy.

Rogers says he's coming back stronger ("see what I'm saying?"). He says he would gladly take that rematch. (LOFL.) He says he should have thrown his hands a lot more.

And that's the show. I'm off to the press conference. We'll talk more later...