Cage won’t cramp style, Emelianenko says

The gridiron might be a different story.

The Russian considered the best heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world will compete in a cage for the first time Saturday when he fights Brett Rogers in the main event of a Strikeforce card in Chicago.

Emelianenko, who has fought in a ring for his entire career, said he is not worried about moving into a more enclosed environment.

“I think my submission and striking doesn’t depend on where it takes place, ring or cage,” he said through an interpreter on a conference call Monday.

He spent Sunday on the sideline at Soldier Field watching the Chicago Bears host the Cleveland Browns as part of the promotional campaign for the network broadcast of his Strikeforce debut on CBS. The network unveiled several promos that aired throughout its NFL broadcasts Sunday.

“I found the football game interesting, but the games which I watched on TV were more interesting and exciting” he said, adding that he’s unsure how his skills would translate to football. “It seems to be easy watching from the sidelines, but I don’t think I would have enough energy to play. Plus, I don’t know the rules very good.”

The card will air tape delayed on CBS (Channel 8) at 9 p.m. Saturday.

• UFC 106 — A co-main event was added to the Nov. 21 UFC card at Mandalay Bay in an attempt to fill the void created by the loss of Brock Lesnar. Josh Koscheck will take on Anthony Johnson in a matchup of rising welterweight contenders.

Johnson just fought Oct. 24 at UFC 104, scoring a 41-second knockout over Yoshiyuki Yoshida. He missed weight by 6 pounds for that fight and said afterward he wanted to fight again quickly to atone for his blunder.

UFC 106 is headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, a bout that was elevated to the main event when Lesnar had to pull out of his heavyweight title defense against Shane Carwin because of illness.

The organization hopes to reschedule that bout for UFC 108 on Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand.

• WEC 46 — World Extreme Cagefighting announced it will return to Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 10 for a lightweight title unification bout between champion Jamie Varner and interim champion Ben Henderson.

Former featherweight champion Urijah Faber will also return to action on the card after rehabilitating from a broken right hand and a dislocated left hand suffered in June. He will face Raphael Assuncao.

The WEC will conduct two cards at the Palms in Las Vegas prior to that event. WEC 44 will take place Nov. 18, and WEC 45 is scheduled Dec. 19. Two fights were announced for WEC 45 this week.

The main will be a lightweight bout between Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff, and newly signed lightweight Chris Horodecki will meet rising star Anthony Njokuani.

All three events will be broadcast live on Versus (Cable 67).

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.