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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

The widest base of potential viewers for any Fedor Emelianenko fight in history lived up to expectations. The fighter widely regarded as the best MMA fighter in the world this decade stood a tough test from the undefeated, much-larger top contender Brett Rogers, but finished Rogers with a nasty roundhouse nearly two minutes into the second round.

Rogers, a St. Paul, Minn. native who quickly rose through the rankings, entered 10-0 and left 10-1, but perhaps with more respect in the MMA community. He bloodied Fedor's nose in the opening seconds, pummeled him on the mat and seemed to have him trouble later in the round, and survived some strong punches and submission attempts by Fedor in an exciting, dramatic, back-and-forth first round that had the Chicago crowd rocking.

After the fight, Fedor said he learned a lot about Rogers in the first round and took that knowledge with him into the second, where he exploited what he saw as a weakness, a splaying of his legs during stand-up. Fedor took Rogers down with lightning fast, powerful lunging left roundhouse punch. A few seconds later referee John McCarthy stepped in to stop the fight as Fedor appeared ready to pummel a stunned Rogers with damaging blows on the mat.

Rogers afterward could barely contain himself, saying he wanted a rematch. In fact, he seemed ready for a rematch at that second. He said next time he wouldn't hold back. He said he doubted himself and it slowed his aggressiveness. Fedor won over the crowd, although at one point "Fedor" chants were drowned out by "USA" chants as Rogers had earned the crowd's respect after round one.

This performance from Fedor against a larger undefeated contender in a dramatic non-stop adrenaline rush introduced himself to a much larger audience than had ever seen him before in the United States. It could be the fight that puts Strikeforce in a position to parlay Fedor into a PPV draw or set broadcast ratings high marks for MMA for future fights. The key for Strikeforce remains to battle the perception that if Fedor were truly the best, he'd already be in UFC, or that to prove he's the best, he has to face UFC-competition. At just 33 years old, Fedor has years left in his prime, and if Brock Lesnar continues a winning streak, the demand for a Fedor-Lesnar fight will grow in coming years despite the logistics seeming blocking it from happening anytime soon.

Rogers turned himself into a legitimate MMA heavyweight draw with his performance. Whether he gets another shot against Fedor remains to be seen, but he looked to be more of a threat than Andrei Arlovski, Fedor's last victim who watched from the front row.

[Fedor art credit Cory Gould (c) Torch / Rogers photo provided to Torch courtesy Strikeforce]

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