In the first fight of the evening, heavy-handed heavyweight Brett “Da Grim” Rogers made his Bellator debut against former friend and training partner Kevin Asplund, who came in to the fight riding a 19-fight winning streak. After a dominant first round that included a beautiful throw and devastating uppercut that opened a cut on Asplund (19-2), the much larger Rogers (12-4) opted to use his size and weight advantage in the second to control Asplund on the ground. After two rounds of punishment, referee Robert Riley deemed Kevin Asplund unfit to start the third round, awarding the TKO victory to Brett Rogers
“It was definitely a tough fight,” said Rogers. “We trained together in the past, so I knew it was going to be a hard fight.”
Rogers was also optimistic about his future in Bellator going forward.
“I just want to continue getting better here in Bellator. I just want to get in here and knock these guys out.”
