June 30th, 2010 was a day that Brett Rogers would like to forget for the rest of his life. He gets the chance to make the MMA world forget what happened on that day starting tomorrow night.
Rogers (11-3 MMA) returns to the cage as he faces former UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez (12-5 MMA) on Friday night for Titan Fighting Championships 20 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KA live on HDNET at 10ET.
The last time we saw Rogers in the cage was when he lost to Josh Barnett on June 18th in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and that is when things got out of control.
Rogers was arrested and charged on June 30th with assault in the third degree, domestic assault by strangulation, and pattern of stalking conduct after assaulting his wife in their Minnesota home the previous day. Rogers pled guilty to third-degree assault on Thursday in connection with a domestic violence incident involving his wife, and as a result had three other charges dropped. Rogers will not be sentenced until November 30th and will likely avoid jail time according to his attorney Murad Muhammed.
Right after Rogers was charged in June, he was immediately released from Strikeforce by Zuffa. People were wondering if he would be fighting again. Rogers stated in an interview with Inside MMA that he would be returning September 23rd for Titan Fighting and the outrage from fans was almost instant on why he would get hired even though his case was still pending. Rogers insists though that people are wrong and too quick to judge him.
“A lot of people want to judge off the situation that happened in my personal life recently that I apologized for recently as well,” Rogers said to us. “Everybody that knows me knows that’s not my character. Everybody whose been around me and truly knows me knows that’s not my character. I don’t need to be fighting loved ones. I came into this sport as a hobby, but my first fight I made $50. I love to fight. Its something I’m naturally gifted, gods gift. I just feel the losses have woken me up to what I am doing.”
Rogers does insist that he is moving forward after what happened in June and is looking straight ahead.
“I’m moving forward in another direction, this fight coming up Friday at Titan,” said Rogers. “I’m also looking farther east too. Dream is still there, K-1, Japan, Asia, that’s a lot of different avenues that I’m looking at right now. I just gotta make things happen and first and foremost this weekend, its gunna be my focus to a start of new beginnings.”
The ultimate goal for a fighter is to get back what they had and Rogers is no exception.
“What is a UFC fighter?,” said Rogers. “UFC fighter is a fighter that does whatever it takes to get that title. I know I have that spirit, that fighting spirit. If it takes time and you have to pick and choose. I’m pretty sure no matter where I’m at my true blood, my true home is in America and the UFC is the ultimate. If its meant to be a UFC fighter again, its going to happen again.
Can Rogers be the fighter he once was even though he lost three of his last four fights, those losses were to Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett?
“I’m going to fight hard, try to get back to where I used to be,” said Rogers. “Which is on top and get back in there fighting top ten fighters and just being myself again and trying to kill somebody. That’s all I can promise. I’m not gunna rush things like I used too. I felt like, I just used to be too focused on whatever. I now let my managers do there work, just tell me the day and I’ll be ready for that day and make it happen.
Where does Rogers see himself one year from now?
“I definitely want to be on a winning streak, talking so much shit and showing the fans I can become a champion again,”said Rogers. “I have been so close to it, that title.”
You can listen to the entire interview at sportstownchicago.com.
