The weighins for Saturday’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers went relatively smoothly on Friday night; the only competitor that was unable to make weight was Dustin Neace.

Neace, who was a late replacement after the Illinois Athletic Commission did not approve Wisconsin’s Sam Thao, was unable to make the 145-pound weight limit.  Neace originally weighed in at 150.5 pounds, and was unable to drop more than a pound on his second attempt.

Neace’s opponent, Jeff “Big Frog” Curran agreed to a catch-weight bout, and will gain 20 percent of Neace’s paycheck.

A large number of fans came to Friday’s weigh-ins to catch a glimpse of their favorite fighters.  As expected Fedor Emelianenko received the loudest ovation of the night.  Fans also showed a great deal of support for Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi.

However, one of the largest applauses of the night may have gone to Dan Henderson, who accompanied Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou to the stage.  A number of fans screamed, “When are you going to sign with Strikeforce?” “Hollywood” Henderson simply smiled and looked down at the floor.

After all four main card fighters had hit the scale, Strikeforce’s Jimmy Lennon Jr.

announced that the presence of a special guest.   Japanese sensation Shinya Aoki appeared and addressed the crowd.

Through his translator, Aoki said that he was “looking for a great offer from Strikeforce in the upcoming future”.  American fans have long clamored for hometown organizations to sign the Japanese submission specialist.

Weigh-In Results

MAIN CARD

265: Fedor Emelianenko (232) vs. Brett Rogers (264)

185: Jason "Mayhem" Miller (184) vs. Jake Shields (184.5)

205: Gegard Mousasi (205) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204)

265: Antonio Silva (263) vs. Fabricio Werdum (242)

PRELIMINARY CARD

145: Marloes Coenen (145) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (140)

170: Deray Davis (170.5) vs. Mark Miller (171)

135: Jeff Curran (145) vs. Dustin Neace (149.6)

170: Shamar Bailey (170) vs. John Kolosci (171)

185: Nate Moore (184) vs. Louis Taylor (185.5)

155: Jonatas Novaes (155.5) vs. Christian Uflacker (156)

EA Sports MMA

Along with the weigh-ins, the new EA Sports MMA videogame was introduced to the media on Friday afternoon.

Along with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, EA Sports MMA executive producer announced that Strikeforce would play a large role in the new game.  He announced that Strikeforce will serve as a premier league in the upcoming game.

While an embargo restricts the media from discussing the game play, it can be announced that Emelianenko, Rogers, Jake Shields, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal will all be playable characters in the upcoming game.

With “King Mo” present to discuss his involvement in the development process, the recent Strikeforce signee wasted no time in taking another verbal shot at Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as well as THQ’s “UFC Undisputed”.

“I’ve played the THQ game…I’m not any good at video games, I can’t even beat Mario Brothers. But when it comes to the THQ game, I’m good at pushing buttons, and that’s a button mashing game…It doesn’t take any skill to be any good at the UFC game, which is developed by THQ.  It’s not that realistic.  When you look at Lyoto Machida, he’s not even a southpaw in the game.  You can pick Rampage and submit people with armbars...He ain’t ever submitted nobody before.”

Photo courtesy of mmajunkie.com

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