Bellator Fighting Championships is set to feature the opening quarterfinal bouts of their Season Five Middleweight tournament this weekend as part of the main card for Bellator 50.
Fighting in that tournament will be Brian ‘The Predator’ Rogers (7-2) who meets a tough finisher in Victor O’Donnell (10-2), who has nine bouts by stoppage out of his ten professional wins.
Bellator 50 is scheduled to take place this Saturday, September 17, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The main card will air live on MTV2 in the U.S. and on theScore in Canada.
Rogers knows he’s in tough Saturday night, but will look to “sprawl and brawl” for three rounds, unless he can finish O’Donnell early with his fists.
Check out part of MMAMania.com’s interview with Rogers below, and be sure to read the full interview by hitting the link.
Your first round opponent is Victor O’Donnell. He’s a fellow Ohioan. What are your thoughts on the guy?
Brian Rogers: Well I’ve seen him around, he fought one of my teammates Forrest Petz a few years ago and he’s a tough submission guy. He’s got eight submission wins total and he’s fought some good names. His record speaks for itself. He’s never been finished and nearly every one of his wins has been by stoppage so I know he’s a really strong opponent.Is there any motivation to avenge your teammate because I know he defeated Forrest Petz.
Brian Rogers: Yeah, I want to get the win for myself and it would be nice to get it for Forrest too. Cleveland has a bit of a rivalry with Cincinnati, Team Vision versus Strong Style and it would be really nice to get that win on the pretty big stage.How do you see this fight playing out on Saturday night?
Brian Rogers: I’m pretty sure Victor will stand for a little bit but ultimately he’ll look for the double leg takedown and go for the submission. I’ll have to be ready to ‘sprawl and brawl’ for up to three rounds and hopefully I can clip him early and be done with it.