Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers Added to ‘Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields’ (!)

(“Pee-pee-pee” vs. “Wobble-Wobble”: Who ya got!?)

Ho, baby. From a new press release sent out by Strikeforce:

ST. LOUIS (May 19, 2009) – SHOWTIME announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., announced today that top-10 ranked heavyweight and former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski will face unbeaten heavyweight sensation Brett “The Grim” Rogers on Saturday, June 6 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and LIVE on SHOWTIME. The announcement was made at a kick-off press conference for STRIKEFORCE: Lawler vs. Shields at the Atrium at Scottrade Center. The heavyweight showdown will precede the main event fight between two of the most highly regarded fighters in the world, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields.

The Fight Network (via FiveOunces) passes along these additional details:

“The Pitbull,” who will be making his first appearance for the California-based Strikeforce promotion, was initially rumored to make his professional boxing debut in the aftermath of the loss to Emelianenko. But Arlovski is now set to return to his mixed martial arts roots against the less experienced Rogers. The winner of this fight will likely go on to challenge heavyweight kingpin [Alistair] Overeem for the title later this year.

The above report also mentioned that Rogers was originally supposed to take on Overeem at the event, but the Demolition Man had to pull out due to a hand injury. Crazy. On paper, Arlovski takes this one, obviously — but then again, Rogers’s fists are granite, and Arlovski’s chin is silly putty. We can’t wait to see what happens.

Strikeforce’s June 6th lineup is stacked as f**k

The addition of Arlovski/Rogers means that Strikeforce’s June 6th lineup is stacked as f**k. Here’s the confirmed main card that we’ll be seeing on Showtime:

182 lbs.: Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)
HW: Andrei Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)
180 lbs.: Nick Diaz (19-7) vs. Scott Smith (16-5)
WW: Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)
LHW: Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)

Tags: Andrei Arlovski,Brett Rogers,MMA,MMA news,Strikeforce