Strikeforce Betting Picks: KO vs Submission Artist

The most anticipated MMA fight of the entire year is FINALLY upon us! On your knees peasants, Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko has stepped into the building and EVERYONES been waiting for him to get back into the ring. After the August 1st Affliction: Trilogy event was cancelled because of the whole Josh Barnett drug fiasco we were all hoping that we'd see an even bigger event: Fedor vs Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight title. But alas..to the dismay of all the MMA betting fans around the world the fight never came to fruition.

So Fedor didn't fight Barnett...which sucked, he didn't fight Brock, which really sucked and now he is going to fight Brett Rogers, big whoop? Yes!

Let me break it down for you gents. According to Sherdog.com, out of Fedor's awesome 30-1 record, 16 wins have been by submission, 2 by KO and 5 by TKO. On the other hand, Brett "The Grim" Rogers has an OK 10-0 record, but he has 5 wins by KO and 4 by TKO. Do you see where I am getting at? This is a classic "submission artist" vs the "knockout artist" match up and has the potential to be the fight of the year. If you have seen these guys fight before you know what I'm talking about.

Here are the Strikeforce Betting Odds on this matchup:

FEDOR EMILIANENKO -500
BRETT ROGERS +350

Riot's Review: If you saw the Fedor vs Arlovski match than you know Fedow can take a punch, but having "The Grim" pounding on your face is a totally different story. His gameplan is to KO Fedor before he gets a chance to submit him and if he's smart, he will stay away from the ground game. Brett is an up and comer and he knows that if he can somehow pocket this win his endorsements will double and his salary will triple.

Fedor Emelianenko, being one of the smartest fighters in the world, already knows Bretts' gameplan. He will probably take some big hits, and let Rogers ground and pound him until he sees an opening, that's when he will snake in and submit him. We've seen it time and time again, Fedor just has a way of coming back to life, that's why The Grim's powers won't be able to KO Fedor.

Strikeforce Free Pick: Fedor wins by submission in the 2nd round

Now that I've got your attention concerning the main match-up, check out the other fights and odds that will air on CBS. I've written the reason why I will be watching these fights

Jake Shields (-300) vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller (+200)

Ah, Jason, I love this kid, he is one of the most entertaining fighters to watch, inside and outside the ring. I wonder if he will be doing a synchronized dance down the runway while entering the ring like he does while at events in Japan.

Gegard Mousasi (-500) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (+350)

Gegard? What? you haven't heard of him? He has an amazing 26 - 2 - 1 record and trains with Red Devil International, the same fight camp that Fedor Emelianenko trains with!

Fabricio Werdum (-170) vs. Antonio Silva (+140)

Have you seen these guys!? They're huge! They are both 6 ft 4 265 pound Brazilians that have trained in BJJ and Muay Thai...do I need to say more?

The StrikeForce-M1 Global event has a pretty mean fight card to sink your teeth into, as you can see, it's a must watch event.