While most of the talk about the Bellator 125 fight card involves the “fun and exciting” middleweight bout in the main event but there is another middleweight fight on the card that could also be termed as a “fun and exciting” as Brian Rogers meets Rafael Carvalho.
Carvalho is the third opponent for Rogers on this fight card as his previous opponents both pulled out of the fight with an injury.
Nearly two weeks ago, Carvalho stepped up to face Rogers, who was happy that Bellator was able to find him an opponent.
“I needed a fight and he stepped forward, but I wanted a fight that moved me closer to the title,” Rogers said. “Looking at the main event on the card we’re fighting on – Melvin Manhoef vs. Doug Marshall – that’s the kind of name I need to move closer to the title. So this doesn’t necessarily do a ton for me. I mean, it’s a win and you can’t lose when you’re looking for a title shot, but the name value has definitely gone down with my change of opponents.”
Over the past couple of months, Rogers has moved his training from Ohio out to Colorado full time at Factory X, which is overseen by head coach Marc Montoya. Rogers has always gone by the nickname, “The Predator” but as he has evolved as a fighter, he now considers himself “The Professional Predator.”
“The difference with me now is that I consider myself “The Professional Predator” because I’ve evolved,” Rogers said. “I took some time off after the Mikkel Parlo fight and changed up my strength and conditioning. As time got closer, I decided to move out to Factory X in Denver and I feel like my overall technique is really getting polished. I’ve developed more weapons and more variety on my feet but I also feel like my ground game has developed as well.”
“People use the term ‘technical’ too much nowadays – it’s about being tactical and complementing your game-plan to put your technique to good use. I’m much more tactical now. I’m not just a blind maniac that tries to go out and kill anything standing in front of me – I’m going to stalk people and prey on them, and I’m more of a tactical type of predator at this point of my career.”
Since Rogers entered Bellator in 2011, he has been known for his explosive knockouts. Two of his three knockout victories have come by flying knee, including his win at Bellator 119 against Adrian Miles. With the new leadership of Bellator and the elimination of tournaments, Rogers could be on the fast track to a title shot if he can continue his explosive knockouts.
“I’m looking to hunt you down,” he said. “I’m looking to do extreme amounts of damage to get the job done. When I get in the zone, I see red, green and yellow when I’m tracking my prey. No one lights it up in the Bellator cage like I do. It’s time to go. I want a title shot. It’s going to be hard work and it’s going to require me to leave a lot of bodies on the floor. But, one by one, it’s going to add up to a title shot.”
“I’m going to turn some heads and rack up some very violent finishes, where like, people’s careers are going to change. I’ve done that before, where fighters aren’t the same after they fight me. Getting knocked out that clean can change a man.”
While every fighter is not looking past the opponent that is in front of them, Rogers is well aware that there is a big Bellator event coming up in November. If all goes to plan for him, he will get another deviating knockout win on Friday and wants to be on the November 15th card against a top Bellator middleweight.
“I’m looking to have an exciting finish and an exciting fight,” Rogers said. “After this, I want to be on the November 15th card against a top middleweight contender. That’s what I want next. I want to be on that card to close out the year. I think I need to be more consistent in my career because I don’t think I get enough respect from the media. I can’t get over how some fighters are heralded when they’re absolutely terrible to watch – they’re boring, they don’t entertain the fans and they don’t get finishes.”
“When I’m on point and clicking, I don’t think there are many mixed martial artists in the world who are as exciting as I am. I’m here to climb forward, get title shots and cash checks. I’ve got a lot of goals in life and I’ve put many of them aside to pursue this career. It’s time to reap those rewards and benefits. I’m tired of treading water and I’m ready to blow through whoever is in my way.”