Overeem defeats Rogers at Strikeforce Heavy Artillery

Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem took less than a round to pound out Brett Rogers and retain his status as the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. Strikeforce’s Heavy Artillery card took place in front of over 8,000 fans at the Scott Trade Center in St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday night. Overeem, who had not defended his belt since November of 2007, appears ready to become a fixture in the organization and has his sights set on Fedor Emelianenko, should Emelianenko be able to defeat Fabricio Werdum in June. That bout will take place in Los Angeles, California.

The always popular and former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski suffered his third straight loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Both fighters were in must win situations as Arlovski had already suffered back to back defeats to both Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers in 2009. Silva suffered a unanimous decision loss in November of last year. Prior to that loss, he went on a six-fight winning streak and was the EliteXC Heavyweight Champion but a failed drug test sent him to Japan to fight in Sengoku until his suspension ran out.

Silva beat Arlovski in every facet of the game. Surprisingly, he was the superior striker and regularly beat his opponent to the punch. He had Arlovski in trouble on multiple occasions in both the first and second rounds but Arlovski’s chin proved to be durable enough to withstand the assault. Silva is now back on the road to contendership in the division with the (29-28) unanimous decision victory. Despite Arlovski’s loss, Scott Coker stated in a post fight press conference that Andrei Arlovski will be back and he will be a big part of Strikeforce’s in the future in 2010.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza rattled off his second straight win in Strikeforce defeating a very game, yet outmatched opponent in Joey Villasenor. His first Strikeforce win came back in December where he polished off Olympic wrestling silver medallist, Matt Lindland in under a round with an arm triangle choke. The five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion may see himself fighting for the 185lb Strikeforce Middleweight Championship in the near future if the organization is able to resign it’s current champion, Jake Shields.

Eight-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, Roger Gracie was easily able to rack up a win against former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Kevin Randleman. Rather than attempt to take the fight to the ground, Gracie chose to stand and trade shots for much of the match with Randleman. Despite only landing 28 out of 122 strikes thrown, according to Compustrike, he was easily able to win the standup. A knee from clinch rung Randleman’s bell in the second and Gracie secured a rear naked choke that rendered Randleman unconscious.

Ultimate Fighter season 8 fighter, Antwain Britt may have nearly doubled the offense of his opponent in the opening minutes of his fight against Blackhouse fighter, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, but he ended up on the wrong side of a vicious knockout to start the televised portion of the card. Feijao, who is teammates with the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and the Nogueira brothers is now one step closer to a shot at newly crowned Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.


Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery Quick Results

PRELIMINARY CARD

155: Matt Ricehouse def. Greg Wilson – Rear Naked Choke – RD 3 – 0:45
155: Tom Aaron def Erik Steenberg – Guillotine Choke – RD 1 – 0:56
205: Fransisco France def Lee Brousseau – Rear Naked Choke – RD 1 – 1:27
170: Mike Chandler def. Sal Woods – Rear Naked Choke – RD 1 – 0:59
185: Darryl Cobb def. Booker DeRousse def. – Split Decision – RD 3 – 5:00
155: Lyle Beerbohm def. Vitor Ribeiro – Split Decision – RD 3 – 5:00
170: Jesse Finney def Justin DeMoney – Guillotine Choke – RD 1 – 3:22


MAIN CARD

205: Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante def. Antwain Britt – TKO (Strikes) – RD 1 – 3:45
205: Roger Gracie def. Kevin Randleman – Rear Naked Choke – RD 2 – 4:10
185: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Joey Villasenor – Unanimous Decision – RD 3 – 5:00
Heavy: Antonio Silva def. Andrei Arlovski – Unanimous Decision – RD 3 – 5:00
Heavy: Alstair Overeem def. Brett Rogers – TKO (Strikes) – RD 1 – 3:40

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Combat Sports on 05/16/2010.