ARLOVSKI TO FIGHT ROGERS 6/6

[Llamafighter]

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
by Loretta Hunt (lhunt@sherdog.com)


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Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers will meet in a featured bout for Strikeforce “Lawler vs. Shields” on June 6 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Strikeforce Director of Public Relations Mike Afromowitz confirmed the heavyweight matchup to Sherdog.com Tuesday.

Arlovski (15-6), 30, was knocked out by No. 1 world-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” in January, but acquitted himself well in the bout’s opening moments.

The defeat snapped a five-fight win streak for Sherdog.com’s No. 2-ranked Arlovski, which included crushing TK0 victories over former IFL standouts Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson, as well as a decision over former UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum.

Rogers (9-0) made his promotional debut on April 11, stopping Ron Humphrey with second-round knees. The Minneapolis native will carry a 30-pound advantage over Arlovski in the bout.

The bout will be sponsored by Affliction. Arlovski has a single fight left on a three-bout contract with Affliction Entertainment. The fighter's management would not comment on Arlovski's contract with the popular clothing brand-turned-promoters, and if this announced bout satisfies Arlovski's contract with the promotion.

"We're thankful to Affliction and Strikeforce for this opportunity," Arlovski's manager told Sherdog.com Tuesday, "and we look forward to our continued relationship with Affliction."

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio could not be intially reached for comment.

Arlovski had been previously announced to make his professional boxing debut on June 27 in Los Angeles for Golden Boy Promotions, which also has a promotional relationship with Affliction Entertainment.

The June 6 event will be headlined by a middleweight matchup between former EliteXC 185-pound champ Robbie Lawler and 170-pound kingpin Jake Shields.

Strikeforce “Shields vs. Lawler” airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. EST.

For those of you who have tickets this event is really heating up!

Originally Posted by Llamafighter

For those of you who have tickets this event is really heating up!

Ya, I was debating on going or not,but with AA being there I may actually go. One of the guys at my dojo/gym who teaches kickboxing on occassion is on the undercard so may go to support him.

this card looks like it has some descent fights on it. Very happy to see Arlovski getting back at it.

[rockdawg21]

Now that's a good fight. Time to see how well Rogers can be against a former champ. AA is still one of the best HW's in the world. Too bad Rogers didn't get his chance to KO Kimbo :(

i want Rogers to win but Arlovski will KHTFO!

[Spiritwalker]

Originally Posted by Llamafighter

For those of you who have tickets this event is really heating up!

Looking forward to this one.. should be an easy win for Andrei... but Brett is a good fighter..

Bad writing by Sherpuppy....

Arlovski (15-6), 30, was knocked out by No. 1 world-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” in January, but acquitted himself well in the bout’s opening moments.

It's not possible to acquit yourself of something before you do it. In this case.. Andrei was doing well, but made a big mistake... That line should read more like...

Arlovski (15-6), 30, was knocked out by No. 1 world-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” in January, but was doing well in the first minute of the opening stanza