Brett Rogers to get a fresh start with Bellator

Bellator Fighting Championships just announced that they have signed Strikeforce heavyweight veteran Brett Rogers to fight on June 22 at Bellator 71 against Kevin Asplund. The fight will take place at the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester, West Virginia.

This will be Rogers’ first fight since his loss via split-decision to Eddie Sanchez in Titan Fighting Championships 20 last September. Prior to that, Rogers fought in Strikeforce making his bones in the cage on June 6, 2009, when he defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski by TKO at 22 seconds in the first round and had an unblemished record of 9 career wins.

 Rogers’ career was somewhat of a disappointment after that, losing to Fedor Emelianenko, Allistair Overeem and Josh Barnett in almost rapid succession. He was released from Strikeforce after being arrested for domestic violence against his wife last June. In November, after pleading guilty to felony third-degree assault, Rogers was sentenced to 60 days in jail and placed on three years' probation.

Bellator CEO & Chairman Bjorn Rebney feels this will give Rogers a fresh start: “I was in Chicago the night Brett Rogers came within just a few punches of dethroning The Last Emperor on a worldwide stage and I watched early in his career when he was a KO machine. Brett’s management’s been talking to us for months about Brett.  And, after talking to Brett at length, I think this could be the type of fresh start he needs to put his fighting career and other parts of his life back to where he hoped they would be.”

Rogers seemed grateful for the opportunity, saying: "I am incredibly thankful to Bjorn Rebney and Bellator for giving me and my family this opportunity. I feel that I am still one of the top heavyweights in the sport and now I have the opportunity to prove it with Bellator. I like the tournament format as it will give me the chance to regain my top position, of course with a lot of hard work."

On his personal life, Rogers acknowledged his mistakes: "Over the past year I have been challenged in my personal life, but all is good in the Rogers family. Everyone makes mistakes in life, but it's how you recover that really counts. I spend every day with my wife and kids and enjoy every minute of it."

His opponent, Kevin Asplund (15-1), will be making his first appearance in Bellator that same night.