Mixed martial arts returns to network prime time Saturday with CBS looking to ride the reputation of iconic heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko to a bumper audience.

Emelianenko, a former superstar on the Pride circuit in Japan, takes on Brett (The Grim) Rogers at the Sears Center in suburban Chicago (CBS, 9 p.m. ET) in the first fight on the Russian's deal with Strikeforce.

The UFC, which was unsuccessful in trying to sign Emelianenko in the wake of Affliction's demise as a fight promoter, is doing its best to spoil the moment.

The MMA juggernaut has scheduled a show on Spike TV at the same time to show replays of four big fights from recent UFC pay-per-views: B.J. Penn versus Kenny Florian and Anderson Silva versus Forrest Griffin (the main event and co-main event from UFC 101), Randy Couture versus Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (the UFC 102 main event) and Rich Franklin against Vitor Belfort (the UFC 103 main event).

UFC president Dana White nearly drove himself to distraction trying to sign Emelianenko, whose M-1 Global management team insisted on co-promoter status as part of the deal. The UFC balked and Emelianenko walked away from its offer.

"I could not sign like the slavery or one-sided contract with the UFC," he said through an interpreter. "Vadim (Finkelchtein), my manager, he considered that we deserved a little bit more."

Saturday marks CBS's second go-round with MMA. Last year, it showed three fight cards in conjunction with the now-defunct EliteXC, showcasing much-hyped former street brawler Kimbo Slice.

A network spokesman called those shows "a home run with a young male audience." But Slice's weaknesses were exposed in just 14 seconds in an upset loss to Seth Petruzelli, a late injury replacement, in October 2008.

Kelly Kahl, a CBS Television senior executive vice-president for prime time, says Saturday's fight card has drawn advertising from movie studios, car-makers and video-game manufacturers with EA Sports using the occasion to offer the first glimpse of its upcoming MMA game.

Emelianenko is light years away from Slice, who is now trying to resurrect his MMA career via the UFC's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter."

The 33-year-old Russian is 30-1 with one no contest and the one loss on the record was due to a cut in December 2000. His victims in Pride include Nogueira (twice), Mark Coleman (twice), Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic, Kevin Randleman and Mark Hunt.

Still, newcomers to the sport may blink twice at their first glimpse of Emelianenko. The six-foot 235-pounder looks more like a truck driver than a fighter.

But he has power and some vicious submissions.

In the world of MMA, he often goes by just Fedor and is widely perceived as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. The only negative is the calibre of his opposition in recent years.

Since the start of 2007, Emelianenko has beaten Matt Lindland, Hong Man Choi and former UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski on three different circuits. The four wins took a combined eight minutes 42 seconds.

Emelianenko remains an iconic figure, however, and the UFC's loss in failing to sign him was a huge gain for first Strikeforce and then CBS.

Kahl says the network had always planned to return to MMA. Bringing Emelianenko along for the ride was a bonus.

"I think the sport's evolving and moving forward. It's reaching bigger audiences all the time," he said. "More and more people are coming in, MMA fans are finally kind of coming out of the shadows, out of the Internet into the mainstream. They're being smart, they're telling their friends 'You've got to check this out.' The athletes are getting better all the time and I now think some of the best athletes in the world are doing MMA.

"In terms of Fedor was (having him) a requirement? No. Was it a happy coincidence that he was available? Yeah," he added. "When that was brought up, we thought what better way for us to get back than with the No. 1 heavyweight in the world and one of the best MMA fighters ever."

Rogers (10-0) is a six-foot-five 265-pound slugger who used to change tires at a Sam's Club in the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury in Minnesota. Eight of his 10 fights have ended in the first round - with one lasting 12 seconds and another 13.

Last time out, he needed just 22 seconds to put Arlovski to sleep - a win that prompted everything from sponsors to movie offers. It's also allowed him to focus full time on fighting.

Rogers, 28, expects another short night at the office Saturday.

The bookies have made Emelianenko a 6-1 favourite but Rogers - who calls himself the "bigger, stronger guy" - says he is ready.

"I've been training for like three months for this guy," said Rogers. "It's one of those things where I feel like I know him. I haven't fought him yet but I feel like I know him and I'm just going to be focused and keep my head straight.

"The way I see it, I have his style down. He likes to come out and throw his hands for a little while and then try to take you down. All I have to do is just wait for him to take me down, because he's not going to be able to handle me standing up."

"If he does manage to take me down, he obviously deserves it," Rogers added. "But he's still going to be fighting. trust me. I'm not fresh to the game."

The CBS card promises at least three other fights: Jason (Mayhem) Miller takes on Jake Shields for the Strikeforce middleweight title, Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard (The Dreamcatcher) Mousasi faces Rameau Thierry (The African Assassin) Sokodjou in a non-title bout and heavyweight Fabricio Werdum tackles Antonio (Bigfoot) Silva.

Canadian Mauro Ranallo will be featured on the play-by-play team.

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