Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum main card spotlight: Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers

It’s time for the big boys to go to work, and the first of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament bouts of the evening will feature Josh Barnett as he flies the flag for the old guard against the new breed, Brett Rogers. Former UFC heavyweight champion Barnett’s time as one of the premier 265 pounders in the sport may have been marred on occasion by his penchant for, ahem, enhancing his performance, but the Seattle native remains a massive test for anyone on his night.
‘The Babyfaced Assassin’ is riding a six-fight winning streak into this contest, although those fights stretch back to 2008. However, in that space of time Barnett has ousted fellow veterans Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel. The grappler’s most recent fights however have come against less than stellar opposition in kickboxer ‘Mighty Mo’ (who Barnett tapped with a first round kimura at DREAM 13) and Brazilian brawler Geronimo Dos Santos. The latter came under the Impact FC banner in Australia last July, with Barnett finishing the bigger man with punches in round one.
Minnesota bruiser Brett Rogers is just one example of how fickle the world of mixed martial arts can be. The 6ft 5in knockout artist was flavour of the month in 2008 when ‘The Grim’ was busy crushing cans in EliteXC and when he knocked out Andrei Arlovski in Strikeforce in June 2009 some were hailing the big man as the next big thing in the heavyweight division.
However, a few months later Rogers suffered damaging back-to-back losses beginning with a brutal KO at the hands of the debuting Fedor Emelianenko. At ‘Strikeforce – Heavy Artillery’ in May 2010, Rogers was bafflingly given a shot at champion Alistair Overeem and it proved to be the worst night of the big man’s career. Overeem dominated and beat down ‘The Grim’ to a first round TKO stoppage which seemed to psychologically effect Rogers whose aura of invincibility was now truly shattered. A decision win over little-league journeyman Ruben Villareal in October is all the practice Rogers has had before being thrown back into the shark tank this weekend.
The Verdict: Some feel that Rogers was a poor choice of candidate for this tournament, with the likes of Shane Del Rosario and Daniel Cormier perhaps more deserving at present. However, ‘The Grim’ is a hulking specimen with thunder in his fists and that type of fighter is always dangerous. Barnett is one of those supremely confident guys who are very likely to underestimate a fighter with Rogers’ skillset – or lack of, should we say. It doesn’t take a genius to see that unless Brett catches Barnett with something big early in the fight, the chances of him being taken down and tapped out comprehensively are almost certain. Josh’s striking is not great but he does hit hard enough to make Rogers think twice about going headhunting from the first bell. Expect the two big men to come out cagey, before Barnett eventually takes Rogers into deep waters and chokes him out late in round one. Barnett, submission, 1^st round.
By Steve Davies