Rogers dealt unfair hand with all his prefight media work
Brett Rogers is trying to pull off one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history against Fedor Emelianenko tomorrow night on CBS. There has to be a lot weighing in on his mind. It's an incredible mental test for a gfuy with just 10 professional MMA fights. Fedor opened as a minus-600 favorite in Las Vegas. None of the smart money is buying that Rogers has any shot to win the fight. Fedor is now a 9-to-1 favorite with one-sided action coming in.
Fedor is a legend in the sport and hasn't lost since 2000, so why is Rogers the guy who is carrying the promotion? The reason is obvious. Fedor doesn't speak enough English to do television and radio interviews. So it's all been on Rogers. He did a ton of radio and newspaper spots. He also appeared on ESPN's First Take, ESPN's SportsNation and tonight he'll be seen on Last Call with Carson Daly. The ESPN appearances included a midweek trip from Chicago to Bristol, Conn.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said it's a necessity (3:28 mark):
"Brett's been amazing. He's been a great trooper. Part of the business that people don't understand is we need the fighters to go out there and do the PR."
Coker pointed out that promoting Fedor is difficult because he lives in Russia. That's all well and good but it has to be distraction for Rogers. He does have his wife with him in Chicago which is a little unusual. Most fighters are surrounded by camp members and have little contact with their family in the days leading up to a fight. It'll be interesting to see how this all works out for Rogers. The big guy does have a confidence about him and he certainly wasn't distracted or intimidated going into the fight against a huge name like Andrei Arlovski.
Related Videos:
Comments