FanHouse AndreiArlovski

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is looking to fight by the end of the year and could be competing at Strikeforce: Evolution on Dec. 19 or in Japan with Sengoku or Dynamite!! 2009 on New Year's Eve.

FanHouse has learned that Arlovski's management has been in discussions with the aforementioned organizations and Arlovski is currently training to potentially fight on one of those cards.

In August of 1995, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci penned a feature about pitcher Greg Maddux entitled "Once in a Lifetime." Wearing an Atlanta Braves uniform, Maddux also graced the cover of SI in that issue. The photo showed a focused Maddux a nanosecond after delivering a pitch. The caption read "The Greatest Pitcher You'll Ever See."

One line in the story has stuck with me for all these years: "Did you see van Gogh paint? No, you could respond, but I saw Greg Maddux pitch." Maddux, of course, has nothing to do with MMA (although he has attended at least one UFC event), but the premise of the story has everything to do with Saturday night.

Fedor Emelianenko is MMA's van Gogh, its immeasurably gifted genius, and Saturday, he will be fighting Brett Rogers in front of the largest American audience ever to witness him.

On Tuesday night Showtime will debut Fight Camp 360: Fedor vs. Rogers, a half-hour documentary to promote Saturday night's fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers on CBS. I got an advance look at the documentary on Monday, and it's at its best when it shows the two fighters' trainers exuding confidence that their guy can win.

Fight Camp 360 shows Rogers' trainer, Mike Reilly, watching Fedor's fight with Andrei Arlovski on YouTube, and telling Rogers that he needs to control the tempo of the fight the same way Arlovski did at the start of his fight with Fedor.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski has begun training with renowned coach Greg Jackson at his academy in New Mexico as Arlovski looks to end a streak of back-to-back high-profile losses.

Pete Sell, who hasn't competed since his first-round loss to Matt Brown at UFC 96 in March, will make his return to a television near you on an upcoming episode of The Jerry Springer Show. "Drago" will serve as a guest security guard on the episode, which was taped on Tuesday in Connecticut, and will air in the coming weeks.

"It's going to be funny, man. I'm going to be singing "Jerry" with everybody else," Sell told FanHouse on Tuesday prior to the taping.

Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko, who once challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 33, will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 103 on Sept. 19 in Dallas, Texas.

Matyushenko (21-4) will face UFC newcomer Igor Pokrajac (21-5), notable for being Mirko Cro Cop's main sparring partner. Pokrajac is on an eight-fight win streak, and while he holds a solid win-loss record, has fallen against recognizable opponents such as Assuerio Silva and Mamed Khalidov.

Following Brett Rogers' impressive 22-second knockout of Andrei Arlovski on the June 6 Strikeforce event, many suspected that he would be next in line to fight for the organization's heavyweight title. However, Rogers' trainer/manager, Mike Reilly, told FanHouse Monday that he isn't surprised that Rogers isn't getting the first crack at champion Alistair Overeem.

"I don't think Overeem was ever planning on fighting Brett," Reilly said. "I think Overeem is afraid of Brett. He's afraid of a big striker who is going to knock him out. ... I don't think anyone is going to admit that, but I'm not going to shy away from it. He's had two opportunities to fight Brett but he hasn't taken either of him."

We've been handing out our half-year MMA awards, so here's my take on the biggest upset of the last six months.

As is often the case in MMA, there were plenty of upsets to choose from. But at the end of the day, I had to go with Joe Warren defeating Kid Yamamoto via split decision at Dream.9 on May 26 (part one of the fight is above; part two is here.)

Is Brett Rogers really one of the 10 best heavyweights in mixed martial arts? It still sounds crazy to say it, but really: After he destroyed Andrei Arlovski in just 22 seconds, running his record to a perfect 10-0 with nine first-round stoppages, how can I deny him?

So in my latest rankings of the Top 10 heavyweights in MMA, I've got Rogers on the list for the first time, and Arlovski off the list for the first time. I've also got great news for fans who like to see heavyweights: This summer is stacked, with Cheick Kongo vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 on June 13, Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 on July 11, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett at Affliction Trilogy on August 1, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Randy Couture at UFC 102 on August 29 and maybe Rogers vs. Alistair Overeem at the Strikeforce event on August 15.