Brett Rogers falls in defeat Saturday Night

St Paul heavyweight fighter Brett Rogers was the latest victim vanquished by the Russian known as “The Last Emperor” live on national television Saturday night. 

Rogers (10-1) suffered the first loss of his career when he was knocked out by a vicious right hand at 1:48 into the second round of the main event of Saturday Night Fights on CBS from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. 

Roger’s defeat came at the hands of the man many pundits say is the greatest fighter in the history of MMA, Russian sensation Fedor Emelianenko (31-1-1).

When asked how he felt about losing his first fight, Rogers told the crowd “I hated it. I’m coming back stronger... I’m so heated I can’t even put it into words, the words I want to put it to.”

Rogers looked competitive against the Russian and his fighting spirit turned the pro-Fedor crowd in Chicago against the Russian by the start of the second round, when chants of “USA” rung out throughout the arena. 

Rogers opened the fight in exciting fashion by breaking Fedor’s nose on his first punch, which led to the Russian’s face being covered in blood by the end of the round. The first round went back and forth between the two, with most of Rogers offense coming knees while bullying Fedor against the cage and holding him there for over a minute. 

He was also able to escape two submissions attempts by the Russian in the first round, a Kimura escape while mounted that led to Rogers flipping Fedor over and gaining the top guard position, and an escape from an armbar attempt late in the round. 

In the second round, Fedor rocked Rogers with a punch early that snapped Rogers’ head back, and then unloaded with a flurry of punches that Rogers mostly blocked. Finally, at the 1:42 mark, Fedor connected with a right hand that knocked an exhausted Rogers out cold. Fedor quickly pounced on the downed Minnesotan and referee John McCarthy stepped in to stop the fight at 1:48.

“What did I see? Was me doubting myself” Rogers responded after the fight. “I doubted myself a little bit... I should threw my hands a little more, a lot more, and thats the only reason I failed today.”

While Fedor never seemed to be in any trouble, Rogers can be proud of the fact that in only his 11th fight he was able to stand toe-to-toe with one of the absolute best in the world. He is also the first man to even get to the second round with Fedor in over four years. 

As for a rematch, Rogers responded “he wants to rematch me? I’ll put it to you like this, I’ll gladly take that rematch.”