Strikeforce, M-1 Global and Rockstar Energy Drink will present their mega event on Saturday November 7th, 2009 in Chicago Illinois at 8pm C.T . None other than the Russian beast Fedor Emelianenko will headline this event for his first official bout under the Strikeforce banner against undefeated and former EliteXC fighter Brett Rogers.  Strikeforce has put together a very exiting fight card for the world to see and besides Fedor vs Rogers they will also field probably the most exiting light heavyweight fighter outside of the UFC in Dutch striker Gegard Mousasi vs Soukodja.  Strikeforce will also fill their vacant Middleweight title with a championship bout to crown the new Strikeforce middleweight champ in a fight between Jason Miller and Jake Shields.

After the fall of a few MMA promotional organizations, Strikeforce is positioning itself as the 2nd leading North American MMA company behind UFC/WEC.  With their purchase of ProElite contracts (former owners EliteXC) and the alliance with M-1 Global and Dreams to share fighters, they hope to do this better then others before them.  With their event live on national TV they will be showcasing their talent pool and parade the most talked about MMA heavyweight in the world Fedor "the Last Emperor" Emelinenko as he tries to work his way to a title shot.  The current heavyweight title is held by Dutch striker Alistair Overeem.  Many think it’s just a matter of time before Fedor takes this belt.  Overeem has not defended his title since gaining it in 2007.

On November 7th "The last Emperor" (30-1) will fight the 6 foot 5 inch 265 pound Brett Rogers.  Brett, a former EliteXC fighter, will put his undefeated record of 10-0 against the most feared MMA fighter in the world.  Brett quickly rose to the top of the heavyweight ranks by knocking out or submitting each of his 10 opponents including his last fight against former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski by TKO in 22 seconds in the opening round this past June.  No opponent has lasted past the 2nd round.  Initially set to fight Overeem, this quickly changed after the current Strikeforce heavyweight champ once again had to forgo a defense of his title due to a hand injury.  Even with Fedor being the favorite it could be a very difficult night for the Russian as Brett Rogers has plans to shock the world.  Beating Fedor could mean instant MMA stardom for Brett.  Looking at his fights so far I don't think Fedor will underestimate him.  Brett is a beast in his own right and stands 5 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier then Fedor.  It will be interesting to see Fedors strategy to fight a much taller and heavier fighter.

The "undercard" promises some excitement as well.  Any of the 2 fight before the main event could easily be headliners if it was not for the hype around Fedor.  In one of them StrikeForce will look to fill their vacant middleweight title, something they desperately need to do.  Their middleweight division definitely has a long way to go and definitely does not have the depth the UFC does.  Jason Miller (29-6) and Jake Shields (28-4) will fight for the middleweight title.  Be prepared to endure a battle on the ground as both fighters are predominantly ground fighters.  Miller is an all around fighter and probably most famous for his UFC 52 bloody battle with the most dominant welterweight, George St. Pierre’s of the UFC,  in which he lost by decision. Miller is a former Shooto and Jiu-Jitsu champion and also the first and last EliteXC Welterweight champion.  On average he is the # 4 ranked welterweight in the world.

I am probably most exited about Gegard Mousasi vs Sokoudja.  Dutch-Armenian Mousasi is an extremely promising MMA fighter who has been been successful in everything he does, from judo, boxing, kickboxing and now MMA.  He is winning everywhere he fights including gaining the Strikeforce Light heavyweight belt by defeating Renato "Babalu" Sobral via KO in the first round this past August on the Carano vs Cyborg fight card.  This fighter might have become a champion too soon just moving up recently to light heavyweight in Srikeforce to win it within a year of winning the middleweight DREAM championship.  He has a great deal of potential but might have peaked too soon in this sometimes short lived MMA world.  We will see what he does in his fight against Cameroons Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua, "SOKOUDJA" for short.  Sokoudja looked to be a very exiting fighter when he came into the UFC, but his stint was short lived going 1-2 and was released in 2008 by UFC.  Soukoudja lost his debut UFC fight December 2007 against a then up and coming Lyoto Machida at UFC 79 via Arm Triangle Choke.  Sokoudjas best moment probably came at Pride 33 being 6-1 underdog against "Minotauro's" twin brother Antônio Rogério Nogueira and defeating him in 23 seconds via KO.  This should be an exiting fight even though for some reason it will not be a light heavyweight title defense fight.

But prime-time all starts out with 2 well known Brazilians Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs Antonio Silva (13-1).  Werdum is a former 2 time Brazilian Jui Jistu world champion and had some pretty well known fights including the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix.  In that tournament he faced current Strikeforce Heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem and won via a kimura in the 2nd round.  AT UFC 80 he beat Gabriel Gonzaga by TKO. Silva on the other hand was the first and last EliteXC heavyweight champion; Interesting fight to say the least.

This event will be a good test for Strikeforce to measure their staying power.  The TV ratings should say a lot about the fans liking to Strikeforce.