Ex-Strikeforce heavyweight Brett Rogers charged with three counts of sexual misconduct

A former Strikeforce heavyweight star has been charged with three counts of sexual misconduct, MMA Fighting confirmed Thursday.

Brett Rogers, best known for fighting Fedor Emelianenko in 2009, is currently in custody at Ramsey County (Minn.) jail after allegedly groping two men in downtown St. Paul, per the criminal complaints obtained from Minnesota Second Judicial District Court. A former cellmate of Rogers has also accused him of touching him sexually, which tacked on a third count.

The news was first reported by the Pioneer Press.

Rogers, who has done jail time on domestic violence charges since the end of his Strikeforce run, allegedly grabbed the crotch area of a man’s pants and his penis in an elevator at a downtown library on Nov. 15. On Jan. 4, Rogers is being accused of grabbing a man’s butt while he was using a bathroom urinal. The man also alleged that Rogers offered to take him into a stall for a “handjob.”

There is surveillance video of Rogers and the man entering and leaving the restroom, per the complaint.

Rogers, 35, was arrested following the second incident. He was described in the complaint as “homeless” and “causing many problems as of late in the downtown area.”

Another man is also alleging that, on Nov. 22, Rogers grabbed the man’s hand and pulled it toward his groin after asking the man if he wanted to go hang out or go to an apartment.

While being held at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center, Rogers allegedly groped his cellmate’s penis through his prison uniform twice while the man was asleep Jan. 11. The cellmate said he didn’t immediately call for correctional officers to come, because he feared Rogers, whom he described as “the biggest, strongest dude in the jail,” would injure him.

Rogers has denied these charges, per the complaint. Rogers told jail officers that he tapped his cellmate’s leg, but didn’t fondle him as the man has alleged. Rogers said when he talks to people, he touches or taps them, referring to it as a “a black thing.” Rogers said his former cellmate was lying and he was upset by that.

“I wish he was in front of me, so I could beat his f*cking ass,” Rogers told correctional officers, according to the complaint.

Rogers has not fought professionally since a March 2015 loss to Derrick Mehmen in Abu Dhabi. He has fought for Bellator and Titan FC and in countries like Japan, Russia and Ecuador since his days with Strikeforce and EliteXC. Rogers, a Chicago native who was working in Sam’s Club before his MMA career, owns wins over Andrei Arlovski and James Thompson.