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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce heavyweight Brett Rogers was arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with multiple counts of felony assault for assaulting his wife at their home south of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, according to a report from MyFoxTwinCities.com.
Per a criminal complaint, Rogers' wife was allegedly strangled, beaten with blows to the head and face where a golf-ball sized wound on her face developed and that she lost a tooth during the altercation.
Rogers has been charged with three separate felonies: third degree assault, domestic assault by strangulation and a pattern of stalking conduct. In addition to the felony claims, he's been charged with a gross misdemeanor for child endangerment, as the couple's two children were present during the incident.
His wife did not want to press assault charges, according to the criminal complaint, stating that she didn't want him to lose his job.
Rogers' bail was set at $100,000 with conditions, and he has another court appearance on Friday morning.
It caps off a bad month for Rogers, who was choked out by Josh Barnett on June 18 in the quarterfinals of Strikeforce's Heavyweight World Grand Prix. The loss was his third consecutive defeat inside the Strikeforce cage.
Penick's Analysis: This is reprehensible behavior. The criminal complaint states that one of Rogers' daughters claimed that she had witnessed him assaulting his wife in the past, and that he had hit his two daughters in the past as well. With his wife not wanting to press charges and initially lying to police about how she sustained her injuries, it suggests a long history of abuse and it's an absolutely awful situation for that family to be in. Rogers deserves jail time and any other punishment coming his way for this incident. It's disgusting and inexcusable.
UPDATE:MMAJunkie.com reports that Strikeforce has released Rogers from his contract following this incident. Per the report, the release was confirmed by UFC President Dana White.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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