STRIKEFORCE/M-1 GLOBAL: Fedor right on with closing right hook

Sears Centre crowd loves it as big Russian stops Rogers

Fedor Emelianenko lived up to his hype on Saturday night with a second-round knockout of Brett Rogers before a sellout crowd at Sears Centre Arena.

An exciting, back-and-forth fight ended at 1:48 in the second round when the Russian heavyweight dropped the Chicago native with a big right hook in the center of the cage. Emelianenko moved in and landed a right and a left punch until referee John McCarthy stepped in and stopped the bout.

The Russian heavyweight moved to 31-1 while Rogers was tagged with his first defeat (10-1) at Strikeforce's nationally televised card.

At the onset, Emelianenko received a cut across the bridge of his nose. But despite leaving the cage bruised and bloodied, the stoic Russian wouldn't say the cut affected him.

''Nothing special,'' Emelianenko said. ''It happens in mixed martial arts. I was waiting for that strike, but I missed it somehow. During the fight you do not notice punches. I think there were no dangerous situations during the fight.''

Rogers tried to trap Emelianenko against the cage, but Emelianenko was able to escape and counter back. Rogers attempted this strategy again in the second round, but Emelianenko quickly was able to get back off the cage and then ended the fight with a right hook.

Rogers was disappointed with the stoppage, which he called premature. ''I wasn't out,'' he said.

Despite Rogers' local ties, the capacity crowd of 11,512 was squarely on the side of Emelianenko, roaring and chanting his name.

Jake Shields won the Strikeforce middlewight championship against Mayhem Miller in a slower-paced, wrestling-filled match that went the full five rounds. Shields picked up his 13th straight victory with the unanimous decision.

The bout was mostly on the ground, which benefitted Shields, a wrestling and jiu jitsu specialist. The toughest spot for Shields came in the final 10 seconds of the third round when Miller had him in a rear-naked choke but couldn't get a submission.

Gegard Mousasi, the Strikeforce light-heavyweight champ, stopped Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at 3:43 in the second round due to strikes in a non-title match.

In the first match of the televised main card, Fabricio Werdum defeated Antonio Silva in a unanimous 29-28 decision.

In the women's match, Marloes Coenen of the Netherlands looked impressive as she made quick work of Roxanne Modafferi. After a few exchanges, the action quickly shifted to the ground. Coenen (17-3) wrapped up Modafferi and forced her to submit due to an armbar.

• Jeff Curran of Crystal Lake made a successful Strikeforce debut by beating Dustin Neace, who threw in the towel after a devastating knee to his ribs at 1:39 of the first round.

• Middleweight Nate Moore handed Chicagoan Louis Taylor his first defeat as he forced him to tap out due to strikes at 3:24 in the second round. Moore, a former Purdue wrestling captain, took Taylor down in both rounds, and Taylor did not have an answer.