STRIKEFORCE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION ALISTAIR OVEREEM & CHALLENGER BRETT ROGERS TO APPEAR ON MMA LIVE ON ESPN2 THIS THURSDAY; STRIKEFORCE St. Louis Open To The Public Weigh In,THIS Friday at 4 p.m. CT at Scottrade Center

Posted on | May 12, 2010 | No Comments

Tomorrow/Thursday, May 13 at 1 a.m. ET (late night)/10 p.m. PT on ESPN2

WHO: STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Champ Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem

Heavyweight Superstar Brett “The Grim” Rogers

WHAT: Appearance on MMA Live on ESPN2

Overeem and Rogers will make a guest appearance on MMA Live on ESPN2 this Thursday to discuss their highly anticipated showdown for Overeem’s STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Championship at this Saturday’s STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery event at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. LIVE on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Overeem (32-11) will make the first defense of his heavyweight title against the brutally hard-hitting Rogers. Since being crowned the first heavyweight champion in STRIKEFORCE history, Overeem of The Netherlands, has been demolishing foes overseas, finishing six of seven opponents inside of one round. The 6-foot-5 inch, 260-pound fighter will face an equally imposing opponent in the 6-foot-5, 265 pounds Rogers.

Rogers (10-1), who has finished all 10 of his victories via knockout, will fight for the first time since he suffered the only loss of his professional career against the No. 1 heavyweight in the world – Fedor Emelianenko – on Nov. 7, 2009 on CBS. In the past year, Rogers has catapulted into the heavyweight ranks, scoring an upset victory over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski via brutal 22 second KO on June 6, 2009 at Scottrade Center.

Also on the SHOWTIME portion of the card, Arlovski (15-7) will face off with former world champ Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (13-2) in a featured heavyweight bout. The 31-year-old Arlovski’s start will be his first since the upset defeat to Rogers.

WHEN: Tomorrow/Thursday, May 13 at 1 a.m. ET (late night)/10 p.m. PT on ESPN2

FREE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC WEIGH IN ****

ALISTAIR OVEREEM, BRETT ROGERS,

ANDREI ARLOVSKI, ANTONIO SILVA, JESSE FINNEY

& ALL THE FIGHTERS TO WEIGH IN

THIS Friday, May 14 at 4 p.m. CT at Scottrade Center in St. Louis

WHO: STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem

Heavyweight Superstar Brett Rogers

Former UFC Heavyweight Champ Andrei Arlovski

Former World Champ Antonio Silva

Middleweight Star Jacare Souza

Power Punching Knockout Artist Joey Villasenor

Two-time NCAA National Wrestling Champion and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin “The Monster” Randleman

Unbeaten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt Roger Gracie

Undefeated St. Louis Native Jesse Finney

& More

WHAT: All 24 fighters participating in this Saturday’s STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery event at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., will weigh in on Friday at an OPEN TO THE PUBLIC event at the main concourse of Scottrade Center.

Knockout artist Brett Rogers will take on STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Champ Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem in the main event. Rogers, who is coming off the only loss of his career against the No. 1 heavyweight in the world – Fedor Emelianenko – on Nov. 7, 2009 on CBS, has won all 10 of his fights via KO.

The 6-feet-5, 265 pounds Rogers (10-1) will face the 6-foot-5 inch, 260-pound Overeem (32-11) in what will be Overeem’s first STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Title defense.

Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (15-7) will face off with Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (13-2) in a featured heavyweight bout. The 31-year-old Arlovski’s start will be his first since an upset defeat to Brett Rogers. A former UFC heavyweight champion, Arlovski had won five-in-a-row in the UFC before suffering back-to-back losses to Fedor and Rogers.

Kevin Randleman (17-14) will take on undefeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sensation Roger Gracie in another heavyweight matchup. A tremendous athlete with explosive power, Randleman captured back-to-back NCAA Division I national wrestling titles in 1992 and 1993 while attending Ohio State University. Randleman has been a force in MMA for years, winning the UFC title in 1999 and competing in Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships.

In a clash of explosive light heavyweights (205 pounds), Antwain “The Juggernaut” Britt (11-3) will collide with Rafael “Feijao’’ Cavalcante (8-2).

Middleweight (185 pound) superstar and 2008 DREAM Grand Prix tournament runner up “Jacare” Souza (11-2) will face hard-hitting sensation Joey Villasenor (27-6) in another featured bout.

Jesse Finney (5-0), a local promoter, gym owner and MMA pioneer in St. Louis, will face Justin DeMoney, of Ottumwa, Iowa, (13-2-2) on the event’s non-televised undercard.

Tickets are on sale for STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery at the Scottrade Center ticket office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).

Doors at Scottrade Center will open for STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 15. The first non-televised preliminary bout will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event will be televised live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

WHEN: Friday, May 14 at 4 p.m. CT

WHERE: Scottrade Center (main concourse)

1401 Clark Avenue

St Louis, MO 63103