The bout capped off the promotion’s first CBS-televised event, which took place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois just outside Chicago.

Rogers opened up a gash on Fedor’s nose with his first punch of the fight, but Emelianenko recovered to batter Rogers with punches throughout the round and also attempted several submissions, but was unable to earn the stoppage in the first.

The pair clinched to start the second but separated and squared off in the center of the cage, where Fedor dropped Rogers with an overhand right and forced the referee, “Big” John McCarthy, to intervene after several follow-up punches on the ground.

Fedor improves to 31-1 with the victory, extending his winning streak to 27-straight, while Rogers falls to 10-1 after suffering the first loss of his career.

After the bout, both Emelianenko and Rogers said they were open to a rematch, though both will almost certainly take on other opponents first. Fabricio Werdum, who won a hard-fought decision over Antonio Silva earlier on the card, and Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem could be next in line for Fedor, while Silva is among the possibilities for Rogers’ next fight.

Shields Tops “Mayhem” To Win Middleweight Title

In the evening’s co-headliner, Jake Shields was crowned Strikeforce’s middleweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

Though Miller appeared closest to ending the fight, securing a tight rear naked choke in the third that he was forced to give up when the bell sounded, Shields was dominant on the ground in earning the victory, taking Miller’s back and getting to mount nearly at will.

Shields, who jumps to 24-4-1 with his 13th-straight win, captures the title which was vacated by Cung Le earlier this year and appears poised to fight the winner of a December 19 matchup between Le and Scott Smith, made official during Saturday’s event, in his first title defense next year.

Miller drops to 22-7 after the loss, his second in his past three fights.

Mousasi, Werdum Earn Main Card Wins

Once-feared striker Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou appeared improved in his non-title matchup with Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi, but in the end it was an outcome”The African Assassin” has become all too familiar with over the last two years, as Mousasi finished a tired Sokoudjou with punches in the second.

In a matchup of heavyweight contenders making their Strikeforce debuts, former UFC contender Fabricio Werdum took out former EliteXC champ Antonio Silva, who returned to the United States after serving a one-year steroid suspension while fighting in Japan.

Coenen Sets Up “Cyborg” Fight With Win; Curran Snaps Losing Streak

On the “Fedor vs. Rogers” preliminary card, Marloes Coenen quickly submitted Roxanne Modafferi to likely earn a title shot against champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos early next year, while Jeff Curran snapped his four-fight losing streak when opponent Dustin Neace was forced to quit due to a rib injury in the opening round.

The official results for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers were:

MAIN CARD

• Fedor Emelianenko def. Brett Rogers via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 1:48
• Jake Shields def. Jason “Mayhem” Miller via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
  Strikeforce Middleweight Championship
• Gegard Mousasi def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:43
• Fabricio Werdum def. Antonio Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Marloes Coenen def. Roxanne Modafferi via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 1:05
• Jeff Curran def. Dustin Neace via submission (injury) — Round 1, 1:39
• Shamar Bailey def. John Kolosci via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
• Nate Moore def. Louis Taylor via submission (strikes) — Round 2, 3:24
• Christian Uflacker def. Jonatas Novaes via unanimous decision (29-26, 30-25, 30-25)

Note: A scheduled fight between Deray Davis and Mark Miller was scratched due to time constraints.

Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko tipped the scale at 232 pounds, while his main event opponent, Brett Rogers, came in 32 pounds heavier at 264 pounds.

The event’s official weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• 265: Fedor Emelianenko (232) vs. Brett Rogers (264)
• 185: Jason “Mayhem” Miller (184) vs. Jake Shields (184.5)
  Strikeforce Middleweight Championship (vacant)
• 205: Gegard Mousasi (205) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204)
• 265: Antonio Silva (263) vs. Fabricio Werdum (242)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 145: Marloes Coenen (145) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (140)
• 170: Deray Davis (170.5) vs. Mark Miller (171)
• 135: Jeff Curran (145) vs. Dustin Neace (150.5)
• 170: Shamar Bailey (170) vs. John Kolosci (171)
• 185: Nate Moore (184) vs. Louis Taylor (185.5)
• 155: Jonatas Novaes (155.5) vs. Christian Uflacker (156)

Don’t forget, MMAFrenzy.com will be providing live “Fedor vs. Rogers” results tomorrow beginning at 7pm ET, with main card coverage of the event getting underway at 9pm.

Strikeforce’s December 19th is beginning to shape up, fighters already rumored for the event include Robbie Lawler, and Scott Smith. Now joining them is a proposed middleweight match up between Matt Lindland and Ronald “Jacare” Souza, and the promotional debut of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal against an as yet unknown opponent. [Fanhouse]

Pictured: Matt Lindland

Sherdog first reported the cancellation earlier today.

The AFL has made headlines in 2008 by signing free agents LaRosa, regarded as MMA’s top female talent, and former professional wrestler Bobby Lashley to lucrative contracts and also pursuing former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. However, the promotion has struggled of late, recently postponing a scheduled November pay-per-view event and today pulling funding from the featured women’s bout due to sponsorship and investor difficulties.

“I’m feeling pretty numb about it, to be honest,” Modafferi told Sherdog. “It’s funny, because a few weeks ago when I heard the stock market crashed and the economy was going down the tubes, I thought, ‘Damn it, I bet my fight is going to get canceled.’ So in a way, I’m not surprised. I just want to fight, and I feel like I’m back to square one,” Modafferi continued. “I’m trying to get on the new Japanese event [GCM's Valkyrie] on Nov. 8, but there’s nobody my weight here in Japan, so I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Despite the cancellation of LaRosa-Modafferi, AFL featherweight Raphael Assuncao may still remain on the November card.

LaRosa (14-1) will rematch with Modafferi (12-4) on the November card. LaRosa defeated Modafferi via decision in their first meeting in 2006. Since then, LaRosa has won seven-straight, including wins over Julie Kedzie, Shayna Baszler, and Kelly Kobald, while Modafferi has won six of her last seven fights including winning the K-GRACE openweight tournament.

The key women’s matchup was originally slated for the AFL’s November PPV debut event which was recently pushed back.

Assuncao (11-1), a submission specialist, will take on Joe Pearson (30-11-1) at the Chicago event. Assuncao has won three straight bouts following his first career loss to Jeff Curran in late-2006. He holds notable victories over Joe Lauzon and Jorge Masvidal. Pearson, who trains out of Miletich Martial Arts, is also a submission specialist who had won four-straight before being knocked out by Bill Kamery earlier this month.

The full card for the Ironheart Crown XII features:

• Gideon Ray vs. Juan Magana
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Joe Pearson
• Tara LaRosa vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Tommy Lee vs. Charles Wilson
• Matt Fiordirosa vs. Rob Menigoz
• Achour Esho vs. Josh Lee
• Brad Fonck vs. Nick Janowitz
• Louis Taylor vs. Adriel Villa
• Mustafa Hussaini vs. Antonio Canas
• Jeff Serafin vs. Chris Albandia
• Ricardo Lamas vs. Christopher Martins
• Derek Langone vs. Tony Marti
• Joey Benoit vs. Keith Smetana