Undefeated MMA Heavyweight Contender Brett "Da Grim" Rogers Knocks Out Dog Fighting
Kris Crawford of For Pits' Sake
Kris Crawford and her pitbull dogs from For Pits' Sake
Strikeforce Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight Contender Brett “Da Grim” Rogers fights for man’s best friend by teaming up with For Pits’ Sake and the Knock Out Dog Fighting program
San Jose, CA - October 30, 2009 -- Kris Crawford of For Pits' Sake, Inc. today announced that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Heavyweight Fighter Brett “Da Grim” Rogers is speaking out against dog fighting in a Public Service Announcement (PSA) he released today for the Knock Out Dog Fighting program.
The Knock Out Dog Fighting program is an award-winning youth intervention program created to stop cruelty and abuse. The organization partners with community based organizations, schools, community centers, juvenile detention facilities, law enforcement and gang prevention task forces to address the underlying reasons kids are fighting dogs. Knock Out Dog Fighting team members are positive role models that teach empathy for animals and help at-risk youth make better choices, develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles. This reduces the potential of involvement in dog fighting and other gang-related activities.
As a role model to millions of children and young adults around the world, Rogers takes this responsibility seriously. "I do the fighting in the house,” says Rogers in the PSA. “Real men don't let their dogs do the fighting for them.”
Rogers knows what it’s like to overcome life’s challenges. He grew up poor in a south side Chicago housing project. His work ethic and ambition came from the desire to put food on the table for his wife and three kids. Up until last year, Rogers used to work two and three jobs, including his most recent job as a tire repairman at Sam’s Club, so he could support his family while pursuing his dream of becoming a heavyweight champion.
“We are excited to have Rogers’ involvement in our youth intervention program,” said Crawford. “He is a wonderful role model who is stepping up to help make a difference by showing kids that it is not a sign of strength, power or greatness to abuse, torture or fight animals”.
One of the most talked about MMA fighters in the world today, Rogers has been given the opportunity to show he is the best in the world. After knocking out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski in an astonishing 22 seconds, the undefeated Rogers (10-0) is slated to take on the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko. The fight is scheduled for Saturday November 7th in Chicago, IL and will be aired live on CBS.
For more information about the award-winning Knock Out Dog Fighting program and how you can join Brett "Da Grim" Rogers in Knocking Out Dog Fighting, go to www.KnockOutDogFighting.org
Showtime Sports - Fight Camp 360: Fedor vs Rogers
FIGHT! Magazine - Brett Rogers Part 1: Four Blocks Turned Into Ten
Before Brett Rogers was a 6’5”, 265-pound fighter, he was a heavy-set kid growing up in Chicago at the time of Air Jordan’s and 8-ball jackets. Growing up between Chicago’s south and west sides during the height of the crack-cocaine epidemic in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Rogers says he was headed for trouble. He wasn’t in a gang but his size made him a target for both recruiting and ridicule.
The 28-year-old lived just four blocks from his school, “but four blocks turned into ten blocks because you had to take certain turns, certain streets you couldn’t walk on just because you weren’t from that street or that block,” said Rogers.
“The Grim” remembers coming to the aid of his younger brothers, who were being bullied by other kids. “It just kinda broke out into a fight,” said Rogers matter-of-factly. “I’m the type that if I can’t win it with my hands, I’m gonna pick something up and bust you upside the damn head…To this day, I don’t know what happened and there was a lot of blood involved and I just didn’t care.”
It was survival of the fittest in Rogers’ neighborhoods, which for a time included the notorious Cabrini Green public housing project. But when Rogers was 12 years old his grandmother threw him a lifeline and invited him to live with her in Minnesota.
“Baby, you wanna come with me?” she asked.
“You know what? Yeah,” Rogers responded.
“The way she sat and explained it,” said Rogers, “A better place sounded like heaven.” His mother never drove – she still doesn’t, to this day – so Rogers’ world extended only ten blocks in each direction as a child. Moving north was “a lot…different,” said Rogers, in part because he was now surrounded by white people, who he’d had limited contact with before.
Minnesota has its street life just like any major city, but away from the gang-war ravaged streets of Chicago, Rogers was able to have a normal life, playing football and basketball in high school. In junior college, his competitive nature pushed him into tae kwon do. Tough man events followed and after approximately 15 bouts he switched to mixed martial arts because he liked the options.
Rogers’ ability to take advantage of his options got him out of Chicago and it’s brought him right back, albeit under much different circumstances. And the toughness he developed before he left will be crucial to his success when he returns to face Fedor Emelianenko on Nov. 7. “To this day, you ain’t gonna punk me around or try to boss me or whatever it is,” said Rogers. “I’m the pack leader on my own. I’m not a push over. Trust me.”
FIGHT! Magazine - Brett Rogers Part 2: Garage Days Revisited
Brett Rogers used to talk to his television. “I can get in there and do that. Dude ain’t nobody,” he’d say while watching mixed martial arts bouts. “He ain’t nothing. I can do that.” But it wasn’t idle chatter – Rogers was working around the clock for an opportunity to prove it.
Since 2003, Rogers’ life has revolved around two garages; the Sam’s Club bay where he worked as a tire technician, and Mike Reilly’s informal MMA training facility. His personal and professional lives were tied by toil. Rogers would wake at 3 a.m. some days to life weights, put in eight hours at Sam’s Club, train, and sleep. The schedule was grueling but gave Rogers old-world strength.
“I can grip truck batteries. I can walk them from the car, to wherever,” he said, adding that he knows for a fact that the harder the grip, the harder the punch. While Reilly improved his technique to score knockouts, Sam’s Club revved up his raw power. Some fighters flip tires during training camps but Rogers did it for a paycheck. But more important than the physical conditioning was the mental discipline required to meet all of his obligations, including working on fight days.
“I would go to work! I’m not gonna skip out on my money. Come on now, I got three kids,” he said. “I’d go in [Sam’s Club] that morning. Make sure I get a nap and just go in and go for the kill. I was gonna make it work.”
It did work. Rogers’ fighting career progressed, he adopted his signature Mohawk after watching a documentary about ancient warriors who sported the hairstyle, and eventually EliteXC came calling. Rogers knocked Ralph Kelly out in the first round in his promotional debut in November 2007 and did the same to James Thompson just three months later. The performances earned him the honor of being one half of the first live mixed martial arts contest on network television when he laid out Jon Murphy in 61 seconds on the same night Kimbo Slice beat Thompson in the sport’s most viewed fight to date.
“I’m sure I woulda knocked Kimbo out too,” said Rogers, who challenged the famed street fighter every chance he got.
He admits it was a play to further his name and insists he respected Slice but was annoyed that they appeared on three cards together but never fought each other. Rogers didn’t get to topple Kimbo but Slice was cut down anyway, and EliteXC went down, too.
“It killed me. It killed me hard,” said Rogers.
Feeling like he was on the verge of becoming a full-time fighter, Rogers had cut back his hours at Sam’s Club. The organization’s folding was a rude awakening but he had established himself as one of the best heavyweights not under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, so it was only matter of time before a new employer came calling.
“I’m just glad I got that second chance with Strikeforce because they didn’t have to pick me up,” he said of signing with the San Jose-based promotion, noting only a few fighters from EliteXC made it to Strikeforce.
Rogers went to the second round in his Strikeforce debut—a TKO over Abongo Humphrey in April—for only the second time in his 10-fight career. He wasn’t in shape, explained Rogers, because he had to go back to working in the garage. The win put him across the cage from former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Twenty-two seconds after the bell sounded Arlovski was unconscious in a heap and Rogers was ready to put in his two week’s notice at Sam’s Club.
It happened a little later than planned but both Rogers and Reilly are finally out of garage. “The Grim” is a full time fighter, scheduled to appear in the main event against Fedor Emelianenko on CBS Nov. 7, and Reilly’s training center has moved out of his garage and into a new facility, Ambition MMA.
Brett "Da Grim" Rogers and Kris "The Pit Bull Lady" Crawford before a meeting with Knock Out Dog Fighting partner -- The F.B.I.
according to Kristine Crawford aka Kris Crawford and her hero pitbulls
