While Facing Domestic Violence Charges, Brett Rogers to Headline TFC 20

Will Gray (Contributor) | September 7, 2011 | Reply

In the competitive sport of mixed martial arts, the gameplan is to inflict punishment and pain onto the opponent in a regulated and sanctioned environment until: the other fighter submits, is stopped or the decision goes to the judges. As professional and ethical many of us pass this sport along to be, there are the few who taint the image of MMA and Brett Rogers has done so in a disturbing light.

Recently arrested and charged with third degree assault on his wife, this charge led to his termination from Zuffa and what seemed to be the end of his MMA career; enter Titan Fighting Championship.

Rogers is scheduled to headline the TFC 20 card on September 23, 2011, just ten days after he is due in court to for his domestic abuse charges. A risky move should the outcome of that court appearance go foul, they’d then be left without their headliner with just ten days to get a replacement. If all goes well though, “Grimm” will be facing off against another former Zuffa fighter in Eddie Sanchez.

Obviously Titan Fighting Championship has thought this through and is ok with the possible repercussions that could come from signing someone who is currently charged with domestic violence toward a woman, especially their wife.

The charges facing Rogers are serious and need to be viewed as such. His wife could be seen visibly by neighbors to have been struck and was bleeding when the police arrived (this all happened while their two young daughters watched and asked him to stop.) You for sure won’t see him back on a ZUFFA roster should he be successful in this fight. Dana White is not going to stand behind someone who beats women and attempt to promote him as a “changed individual” that is sorry for their actions, the public won’t buy it.

More importantly, what does the MMA community miss if the Minnesota native was to walk away or could not find fights/ promotions? He was a decent heavyweight who was finishing lackluster opponents (except Arlovski). His first real test against Fedor saw him put to sleep, Overeem finished him in their meeting before the first round could be recorded and Josh Barnett recently gave him a wrestling clinic before submitting him in their quarter-final grand prix match. Heavy hands will only take you so far once you are in the top-level and the other men know how to defend or out strike you.

At the end of the day, Brett Rogers will answer for what he has done and the punishment will be handed down. Until that time comes, the responsible and moral approach is to not reward or encourage him by allowing promotions to sign them on their cards but let him and the MMA world know that domestic violence is zero toleration and you will be held accountable for what you do in and out of the cage.

Picture courtesy of cagepotato.com

Tags: Brett Rogers, Domestic Violence, Eddie Sanchez, MMA, News, Opinion, Strikeforce, TFC 20, Titan Fighting Championships