By Brendhan Conlan
FiveOuncesOfPain.com/CBSSports.com
There is little doubt the upcoming "Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields" event on June 6 should feature more than one knockout. The card showcases strikers such as Scott Smith, Nick Diaz, Phil Baroni, headliner Robbie Lawler, and a number of other hard-hitting mixed martial artists. Two men familiar with rendering opponents unconscious will be facing each other that night. Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers offered their thoughts on throwing down in St. Louis during a mid-week conference call to media.
"Things are great," said Rogers (9-0). "I'm just getting ready for next week. This is definitely going to be a step up in class. Arlovski has been in the game for quite some time. He has plenty of experience. Those are the type of fighters I'm trying to fight from here on out. For me, now, it's about building respect. I feel like I don't have it, so fighting Arlovski is going to be a fun and challenging event on June 6.
While Rogers is excited to fight someone with Arlovski's credentials, he feels ready for the step up in competition.
"I'm at that point in my training where I have a great gym now," he said. "We have top coaches. I'm doing everything I need to do to take on top fighters. Once I got the phone call and Arlovski was set in stone, I was excited. I remember watching this guy at a younger age and thinking, 'Man, I get to take on someone like that?' He's an explosive guy; he likes to move around. It's definitely going to be a challenge, but nothing I don't think I can handle. He's big, slimmer guy. He likes to move, he likes to be quick and move his hands. I'm kind of mellow with the fighting stance, so it's definitely going to be me taking my time and controlling the fight."
As far as the hype surrounding the fight, Rogers would rather avoid the commotion.
"I'm not going to allow myself to get caught up in it," he said. "I'm pushing aside everything. Back in the day, I was more a fan. I've just been pushing that all out of my head and looking at different fighters as fighters. Arlovski is just one out of a few people I'm aiming at. I'm just going to go out there and just fight. Just do what I do. I love doing it. It's a fun sport, it's growing. There's lots of money in it. I just can't complain, and I can't wait."
Former UFC heavyweight vhampion Arlovski also expressed excitement about the bout, as well as respect for Rogers' skills.
"He's not a joke," Arlovski said. "He's a good striker. He's going in about 25 pounds heavier than me. He has a longer reach than me. So, of course, I have to correct my fighting style specifically for him. He's obviously a very good striker so I think this is going to be an interesting fight for the fans. He likes to strike, I like to box."
Rogers made it known the admiration for striking prowess was mutual between the opponents, though he also took the opportunity to throw in a verbal jab.
"I give his standup a high rank because he does like to use his hands," said Rogers. "He can move his head really good. He has a nice right, I'll give him that. But, as far as anything else go, there isn't anything that would make me nervous. I'm just the type of fighter that likes to control the pace. I'm going to be the heavier fighter. I'm sure he's going in around 250. I'm always on top of the weight. I just have to stand and bang with him. That's all I can do, really. If he gets real careless or real crazy I might have to just check him and bang him around the ring a little bit and try to calm him down. I'm not going into this fight to try and be bouncy-bouncy with him."
Asked whether knocking Arlovski out was his only hope for victory against the talented Belarusian, "The Grim" made it clear he was ready to go to the ground if necessary.
"I won't say [the KO] is my only way of winning," admitted Rogers. "First and foremost that's going to be the first thing I go for. If it comes down to us turning around on the ground, I feel safe with the jiujitsu game. I know he has a background in that but he's just another man. It's just another day in the gym except we're going 100 percent. Hopefully, he's not sleeping on that."
Arlovski, who was recently defeated by Fedor Emelianenko, acknowledged a bit of additional pressure due to the loss but maintained that his attention was purely on Rogers.
"When I fought Fedor I didn't follow my game plan," Arlovski said. "I just went through the fight. Like all my trainers told me, you have to follow your game plan. Yeah, there's pressure because I lost my last fight."
Rogers was originally scheduled to compete against Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce heavyweight championship, but Overeem was forced to pull out of the fight after a nightclub brawl left him with an injured hand. Arlovski was quickly tapped as a replacement.
"I thought I was fighting [Overeem], but I got [the Arlovski fight] about three weeks ago," explained Rogers. "It's cool because the way I see it, it's actually going to be a better fight than the one with Overeem would have been. With Overeem we might have ended up on the ground and did all that up-and-down stuff. With Arlovski, he likes to stand and bang and I like to do that too. This is going to make for a better fight. "I was putting in some time for Overeem. Then he wanted to act like a fool. He's a pro fighter and he wanted to act like a fool. That's on him. I'm moving onto bigger and better. I'm getting this fight. I'll knock Arlovski out and hopefully move on to somebody better. I'm trying to get into that 'top 10' ranking. This isn't going to be forever, so I need to make my move like right now when I'm healthy."
Rogers still has his sights set on the Strikeforce heavyweight title, but for now, he's got a much more pressing challenge to worry about.
"I did have my mind set on [the title]. I was kind of concentrating on that. So whenever Overeem heals, I'm going to go for that. Pretty much I want to fight anybody people say are better than me. I'll fight Overeem ... I'll fight Arlovski ... I'll fight Fedor. I'll fight whoever is up there. I'm going for all the 'Top 10' guys in the heavyweight division."
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