Prime Rib or Table Scraps? Brett “The Grim” Rogers Joins Bellator

STUDIO MMA, VENICE, CA —  Bellator Fighting Championships has announced its signing of beleaguered former Strikeforce heavyweight, Brett “The Grim” Rogers [11-4-0 MMA, 2-3-0 SF].  Rogers will appear later this month against a to-be-determined opponent.

Rogers began his professional MMA career by beating the piss out of ten straight opponents, including 9 first-round finishes and 1 second-round finish.  The highlight in this stretch was his 22-second knockout of former UFC champion Andre Arlovski — a feat that, in retrospect, considering the rapid degeneration of Arlovski’s chin, is not exceptional.  Rogers eleventh fight was against “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emlianenko.  He hurt Fedor badly in the first round, breaking the Russian’s nose and delivering some vicious ground-and-pound.  However, Fedor ended the fight in the second frame with a thundering right cross that sent Rogers flopping.

From that point forward, the mohawked Minnesota resident has not demonstrated anything close to top-level skills.  In Strikeforce, he was rag-dolled and embarassed by both Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.  And at the bottom of that hill, he lost to Eddie Sanchez in Titan Fighting Championship 20.  Rogers then spent 2 months in jail for domestic assault.

But The Grim claims that his troubles are in the past.  ”Get ready for a new and improved Brett Rogers,” he warns.

What do you think?  Is Bellator picking up some Strikeforce scraps, or did they sign up a reinvigorated ringer?