'Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery' & Weign In Video

The heavyweights of "Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery" have a lot on their mind.




Co-headliners Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Silva are all fighting for a shot at Fedor Emelianenko – despite the fact that Overeem currently owns the belt. All but Overeem are coming off losses.



The champion has his own albatross: he hasn't defended his title in nearly three years.



There's a lot to prove when the heavies square off in a Showtime-televised event tonight at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.



Overeem and Rogers' battle for the Russian



It's rare when competitors think a title fight falls under the category of "next-best option."



Strikeforce heavyweight champion Overeem (32-11, 2-0 SF) has been absent from his U.S. post for nearly three years. Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) has never fought for a major promotion's belt. They dislike each other, at least on camera.



So why are they looking over each other's shoulders Saturday? Fedor. (Who else?)



Rogers has a leg up on the current champion in that he's already given the Russian a run for his money. He came up short this past November and lost to Emelianenko by second-round TKO. But for five minutes, he put the uncrowned champion in trouble. And that's stoked his desire for a rematch.



"I want that rematch with Fedor, and it's definitely going to look a lot better when I get in there and snatch this title and get this second shot," Rogers said.



Overeem claims his path to Emelianenko is obscured by backdoor politics. A long-running squabble between the fighters' managers is the delay to the meeting. He is focused on competing in America, but the fight he wants is out of reach, at least at the moment. In the mean time, Emelianenko is slated to fight Fabricio Werdum next month and enters the Strikeforce/M-1 Global bout as a definitive favorite.



"I know Fedor is like me; he doesn't care who he fights," Overeem said. "It's the management. It takes two to tango."



Whether Saturday night is a title grab or a tune-up fight, do Rogers and Overeem have their eyes on the ball?



Rogers wants to prove his loss to Emelianenko is just a fluke. He says he deserves to fight for the heavyweight belt.



"It's definitely motivation, man," he said. "I'm the type that everything positive or negative is going to make me that much stronger. This is the type of fight that I have wanted for a long time. [The Overeem fight is] not something that I've taken lightly.



"People are just holding the Fedor loss against me. People think I don't deserve it, so I'm feeling a lot of pressure to prove it."



Rogers compared Overeem to Arlovski in the level of technical striking he'll encounter. He solved that problem by storming forward with a blitzkrieg of punches and knocked Arlovski out in 22 seconds.



Overeem, who has four times as many fights as Rogers (including several appearances in K-1), didn't offer much on solving his end of the equation.



"I don't talk about strategy before the fight, so you're just going to have to wait and see what will happen," he said. "I can tell you it's always a surprise with me. I've been training for a long time now – 15 years – and I know a lot of different techniques.



"Let's just say I have some interesting techniques planned for this fight, but you're going to have to wait and see when I come out of the box."



Against Emelianenko, Rogers tried to take away the striking advantage by tying the action up and making use of his weight. In a fight with Overeem, he may do the same in order to set up a takedown and overwhelm the Dutchman with ground and pound.



Overeem, meanwhile, likely will use kicks to keep distance from Rogers and work his powerful knees when the distance is closed. With a few well-timed shots, he could set up a TKO victory by ground and pound as he did with Buentello.



Unless either man lands a big shot early, the fight will rest on whom gets top position on the canvas.



Arlovski and Silva's mind over matter



Heavyweights Arlovski (15-7 MMA, 0-1 SF) and Silva (13-2 MMA, 0-1 SF) have hit hard times and can't afford to let opportunity slip through their fingers.



Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champion, has long been considered one of the best in the world. But he's been knocked out twice in his most recent fights – first by Emelianenko and then by Rogers – and faces a career crossroad. At this point, it's about how he comes back from the devastating losses.



The Belarusian is still within spitting distance of a heavyweight title shot. There are but a few heavyweights with his stature in Strikeforce. He still has the tools to be a champion: fast hands, a slick ground game and good conditioning. With a victory over Silva, he could put himself in line for a title shot by early next year.



As Arlovski's trainer, Dino Costeas, earlier told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Arlovski has to believe in himself and pull the trigger.



"When I fought Rogers, I didn't stick to my game plan, and I didn't take him seriously," Arlovski said. "Everything happens for a reason, and I'm more disciplined now. I'm definitely going to stick to my game plan. No more putting my hands down like I did against Rogers.



"I just can't lose again. It's very dramatic for me to lose fights, and I want to climb back into the top. It's going to be a very tough and important fight for me."



It's also a referendum on his glass-jaw status with the fans. Silva is literally a giant and doesn't have Arlovski's speed. But what he lacks in speed, he more than makes up for in power. The Brazilian nearly knocked out his most recent opponent, Fabricio Werdum, in the opening moments of their fight this past November at "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers." When Werdum stood at range, he took heavy punches.



Arlovski is in trouble if he can't sidestep Silva's huge mitts.



Silva admits that he had a problem pulling the trigger in his most recent fight. When he had Werdum hurt, he couldn't seal the deal. (He also broke his hand early in the fight.)



It wasn't too long ago that Siva grappled with the California State Athletic Commission over his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.



"(My most recent fight) was a big lesson for me," Silva said. "I had the opportunity, but I could not do it. Because of my former suspension, it had been awhile since I fought in the States, and I wanted to put on a show. When I got Werdum in trouble, instead of going down with him and keeping with ground and pound when he tried to grab my leg, I stepped back and let him get back up."



He doesn't plan to let Arlovski get away. If he takes the fight down, that's approximately 280 pounds weighing on the Belarusian. If the fight stays up, he'll set up his jab and look for the straight right or uppercut.



If Arlovski's confidence is sound, he'll look to beat Silva to the punch with an overhand right and then follow the action to the mat. If he's feeling safe, look for him to tie up the action and take the fight down as quickly as possible. From there, he'll look to catch an arm or leg in transition.



"I have a feeling this fight will not go to the end," Silva said.



Gracie makes U.S. debut against Randleman



Roger Gracie (2-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) has fought in MMA but twice in four years, but the Gracie name is everlasting.



The 2005 ADCC champion has given little impression that he wants anything other than a ground fight against his opponent, former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman (17-14 MMA, 0-1 SF). He's been in the MMA gym a relatively short amount of time with six weeks of fight-specific training under his belt.



No big deal, he said.



"This fight can go any direction, so I have to be ready for anything," Gracie said. "I think I've trained enough."



Randleman barely made it to Saturday's fight when he picked up a staph infection in Las Vegas while training for the bout. He's had a roller coaster of a career recently due to injuries and has lost his two most recent fights. Like his fellow MMA pioneer Mark Coleman, he's faced questions on his ability to compete in today's game.



"I've cleaned up not only my act but my game," he said. "I've added a lot to the arsenal. I train every aspect of the game. I'm ready to fight Roger Gracie."



But unless Randleman lands one of his wild, swinging bombs (a la his bout with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic), this bout is sure to be a protracted ground battle. Randleman, the former NCAA wrestling champion, will take the action down and hold position, and Gracie will try to work his magic from the bottom.



"Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery" – Scottrade Center in St. Louis (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET/PT)


The full roster of fighters for Strikeforce: Heavy Artilery hit the scales in St. Louis one day before their May 15th event on SHOWTIME. Check out Rafael Feijao, Antwain Britt, Kevin Randleman, Roger Gracie, Joey Villasenor, Jacare Souza, Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Silva, Bigfoot, Alistair Overeem, and Bret Rogers
MAIN CARD

Champ Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers (for heavyweight title)

Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Joey Villasenor

Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman

Antwain Britt vs. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)

Justin DeMoney vs. Jesse Finney

Lyle Beerbohm vs. Vitor Ribeiro

Darryl Cobb vs. Booker DeRousse

Mike Chandler vs. Sal Woods

Lee Brousseau vs. Fransisco France

Tom Aaron vs. Erik Steenberg

Matt Ricehouse vs. Greg Wilson