Brett Charles Rogers (born February 17, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division.
Rogers was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in the south and west sides of the city, also living in the Cabrini Green housing project, a notoriously dangerous and gang-infested neighborhood.
He would often come to the aid of one of his younger brothers during street fights and, because of his imposing size, Rogers was often recruited to be in gangs, but turned down the offers.
[1] Rogers attended Harding High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he played football and basketball.
[1] Rogers began his MMA training with Team Bison in Bloomington, MN, in the garage of head trainer Mike Reilly.
Rogers was charged in early 2011 with third degree assault on his wife [2] and was immediately released from his Strikeforce contract.
[5] On June 6, 2009, at Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields, he defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski by TKO after 22 seconds of the opening round.
[7] After a great deal of discussions on whether or not the bout would be for Overeem's Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship,[8] it was confirmed on March 29 that the title would indeed be on the line.
[9] On May 15, 2010, Rogers lost to Overeem via TKO (strikes) at 3:40 of round one, landing only one punch in the entire fight according to CompuStrike.
Brett Rogers was defeated via a one arm triangle choke submission by Josh Barnett on June 18, 2011, at Strikeforce: Dallas as part of an eight-man heavyweight tournament.
[10] Rogers made his return to MMA at Titan Fighting Championships 20 against UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez.
[16] In his next bout, Rogers faced up-and-coming Russian prospect Konstantin Erokhin at Fight Nights - Battle of Moscow 15 on March 28, 2014.
Rogers won via TKO when Malikov broke his leg while attempting a right low kick in the second round.
In September 2011, Rogers pleaded guilty to domestic abuse for choking his wife and repeatedly punching her to unconsciousness in June 2011.