Roger Huerta
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Roger "El Matador" Huerta (born May 20, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist of Mexican descent.
He stands 5 ft. 9 in. (175 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division.
He was the first fighter to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine and currently fights as lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Early Career
Roger Huerta made his professional debut August 2, 2003 against Shane Lavafor who he defeated by TKO. Later that night he defeated Jeff Carlson via disqualification to move to 2-0 in his first night as a professional fighter.
Following a draw with Joe Jordan in March of 2004, Huerta entered a one night 8-man tournament for the SuperBrawl promotion. Huerta defeated Harris Sarrimento and Mike Aina in the first two rounds before submitting verbally to Ryan Schultz 1.47 into the final after he suffered a broken jaw.
Huerta rebounded from the Schultz loss with two wins in the Extreme Challenge promotion and a win in the Xtreme Fighting Organization.
In March of 2005, Huerta entered another one night 8-man tournament, this time for the Freestyle Fighting Championships. He defeated Steve Kinnison and Kenny Jerrell in the opening two rounds before facing future TUF 2 castmember, Melvin Guillard in the final. Guillard proved victorious in the bout but the result was overturned by the commission after Guillard was found to have greased himself up before the fight.
Huerta fought three more times in 2005, scoring victories over Brad Blackburn (TKO), Matt Wiman (unanimous decision), and Lee King (rear naked choke).
UFC Career
Having kicked off 2006 with victories over Dan Swift and Joe Camacho which pushed his record to a very healthy, 14-1-1, Huerta was offered a contract with the UFC.
In his UFC debut, at UFC 63, Huerta faced Jason Dent, who he defeated by unanimous decision.
At UFC 67, Huerta fought a controversial bout with John Halverson. Early in the bout, Huerta landed a knee to the shoulder of Halverson which many believe struck Halverson on the head. Adding to that thought process was the reaction of Halverson who became defenseless as Huerta quickly spun to Halverson's back and pounded away with strikes until the referee stopped the bout at .19 of round 1. Halverson protested the stoppage but to no avail as Huerta was awarded the victory.
Huerta returned to the octagon a little over two months later against Leonard Garcia at UFC 69. The two engaged in a back and forth war that saw both fighters sustain substantial punishment. Huerta landed the cleaner shots and was awarded the unanimous decision victory. A photograph of this bout was used as the cover for Sports Illustrated magazine and an article that highlighted the growing interest in mixed martial arts.
Huerta's next two UFC bouts against UFC virgins, Doug Evans and Alberto Crane drew the ire of many MMA fans as thoughts of favoritism shown by the UFC to the marketable Huerta began to creep in. Huerta won both bouts via finishes in the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively.
Calls for Huerta to face tougher competition were answered at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale in December of 2006. Huerta faced Clay Guida in the main event. In the fight of the year, Huerta was outwrestled and outworked by Guida for the opening two rounds with Guida almost putting out Huerta's lights in the second round with a vicious uppercut. In the third round though, Huerta came out like a man possessed as he hurt Guida with knees and punches which dropped Guida. Huerta quickly seized Guida's back and locked on a rear naked choke that forced the tap .31 into round 3.
Electing to take some time off after having fought five times in 2007, Huerta returned in August of 2008 against Kenny Florian in a high stakes lightweight affair. Before the bout however, interviews began to pop up featuring quotes from Huerta regarding his unhappiness with his contract and fighter pay in general. Huerta was also rumored to be wanting big bucks in a re-negotiated contract with the UFC which included percentages of the PPV. Huerta's leverage in contract negotiations seemed to rely upon a win over Kenny Florian at UFC 87, but he was unable to do so as Florian outpointed and outmanuevered Huerta with superior technique. Florian was awarded the unanimous victor after three rounds.
Little was heard from Huerta following the loss to Florian as the UFC started to bury Huerta while contract negotiations went on. The UFC went as far as removing the Florian/Huerta bout from a UFC 87 replay on Spike.
In December 2008, Huerta resigned with the UFC for a five fight deal. His first bout under the new contract is rumored to be against Spencer Fisher at a UFC event in March.
Mixed martial arts record
| 26 matches | 22 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 10 | 0 |
| By submission | 4 | 1 |
| By decision | 4 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | |
*He has a disqualification victory over Jeff Carlson in 2003, an unknown victory over Dan Swift in 2006 and a No Contest with Melvin Guillard in 2005.
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