Brian Rogers, right, celebrates after knocking out Vitor Vianna at Bellator 61 on March 16, 2012 in Bossier City, La. (Provided by Bellator MMA)
Brian Rogers lives in Denver now, but his Ohio roots still show.
When the 31-year-old middleweight mixed-martial artist faces Joey Beltran on Friday at Bellator 136 in Irvine, Calif., he’ll be fighting in honor of friends Marcus Ajian, Paul Compton and Steve Hindman — three men who died in the past year and were part of Ohio’s MMA scene. Rogers said he will feature them on his banner and have the Ohio state flag on his shorts.
“They’re friends, they’re teammates, they’re gym people, they’re loved people,” Rogers said. “… It’s just something small. It doesn’t bring back a life, it’s not even a charity thing. I just want to make people feel good for a night.”
Having lost four of his last six fights, good feelings would certainly find their way to Rogers (11-7-0) with a victory over Beltran (15-11-0) — another fighter on a slump having dropped eight of his previous 12 bouts. They will fight on the preliminary card, which starts 5 p.m. on . The main card starts at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Spike.
A former heavyweight, Beltran fought for UFC from 2010-13 before coming over to Bellator. This will be his first-ever fight at 185 pounds, dropping down from the light-heavyweight division (205). His lost his last match, a third-round knockout to Emanuel Newton for the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship.
“He’s tough, he’s durable, he’s got a good forward pressure,” Rogers said of his Beltran. “… He doesn’t quit. You’ve got to put him away or you have to run out of time while you’re trying to put him away.”
Rogers, who moved to Denver last year to train at the Factory X mixed-martial-arts school in Englewood, said he’s been working on developing a more well-rounded and diverse set of attacks in preparation for the bout.
“I’m the type of fighter where I think I can take anyone out, any time, any place,” he said. “We’ll see what he (Beltran) runs into. If it takes me three rounds of just beating him up, then that’s fine.
His numbers should support his confidence. In Rogers’ 11 wins, nine have been by knockout.
“We’ll see if his (Beltran’s) jaw holds up. I think if I do the right thing, his jaw won’t,” he said.
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