Roger Huerta explains why he chose Bellator, guarantees tournament championship

[Drock]

http://mmajunkie.com/dyn/images/fighters/roger-huerta-3.jpg

Roger Huerta says he still has a lot of fight left in him.

The former UFC lightweight is officially bound for Bellator Fighting Championships and joins its season-two lightweight tournament with a chip on his shoulder.

"I've fought my whole life to get to where I am today, and this is a point where I honestly believe this is like a second chance for me," Huerta (20-3-1 MMA, 0-0 Bellator) said during a video press conference announcing his new Bellator contract.

Huerta vies for the right to face current lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez; an eight-man tournament that kicks off on April 8 in Chicago will determine a challenger for the season-one tourney winner.

After he sat out much of the previous two years and contemplated a move from fighting to acting, Huerta said he's ready to dedicate himself to his true passion.

"My passion's in fighting," he said. "This is what I've been doing since, I think, the day I was born."

Bellator's tournament provides the perfect format for him to jump head-first back into the fight game.

"I've got to give the fighters my best because anything can happen in this tournament, anything can happen in the sport of mixed martial arts," said Huerta, who makes his promotional debut April 8 at Bellator 13 against an opponent to be named later this week. "It has my attention 100 percent."

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http://mmajunkie.com/news/18324/roger-huerta-explains-why-he-chose-bellator-guarantees-tournament-championship.mma

[mmalaskan]

Wow, huerta and alverez, plus a few men that can be possibly labeled as fighters.

What a deep tournament.

[Misfit]

Wow, huerta and alverez, plus a few men that can be possibly labeled as fighters.

What a deep tournament.

My thoughts exactly, there's one fight here, that's it. And WTF was Eddie doing in the first place signing only with Bellator. Now he's got a guy that barely UFC top 10 in the division, is Eddie going to sign with KOTC now. Eddie is way to good to be fighting in such a smaller org.

[Drock]

My thoughts exactly, there's one fight here, that's it. And WTF was Eddie doing in the first place signing only with Bellator. Now he's got a guy that barely UFC top 10 in the division, is Eddie going to sign with KOTC now. Eddie is way to good to be fighting in such a smaller org.
He Is 25 He Has All The Time In The World To Sign With UFC, I Imagine He Wants All The Experience He Can Get Before He Signs With The UFC.

[Cisco]

Not only that WTF is Roger doing, I really expected him to go with SF.

[Dirty Daley]

bit harsh misfit,mma is a fight and anything can happen.bellator is a great tournament to win.

[Misfit]

Maybe but there's only one real fight for him in Bellator. He's going to be an easy favorite in every single fight except the Eddie fight. It just doesn't seem like that much of a challenge until he gets to Eddie. But maybe that's what he wants so he maybe do the acting thing and fight at the same time. There weren't that many easy fights left for him in the UFC, he should have some in Bellator IMO. And I have no problems with Bellator, this is a freaking great, great signing for them. They are really stepping up their game and if they could sign 2 more really good LW, that Tourney is going to be damn, damn good IMO. But as of now, it's Duke and Kansas playing with a bunch of NIT teams.

[MMA Guru]

Yeah, but you look at it this way, the ONLY thing stopping Huerta from winning is Alvarez. That's it. And if Alvarez wasn't in the mix, and the UFC sent over a top 5 to compete, you can bet Huerta wouldn't win then either. It's just kinda weak right now, and I don't think there's a guy on the board who wants them to fail but they aren't the bigs or even close to it right now or the foreseeable future.

[MMA Guru]

Ninja'd....

[Misfit]

Oh yeah.
http://www.ninjaonline.co.uk/media/gbu0/prodsm/ninjasuit.jpg

[Dirty Daley]

boy's we will be back to this thread after the tournament and see who is right.

[Misfit]

I'm not saying you are wrong buddy. Do you think anybody BUT Roger or Eddie is going to win this tourney?? I don't, that's all I'm saying. I would be shocked if either one a tough fight until they fight each other, then that could be a great fight.

[Cisco]

Yeah, if one lost before the end I be a bit surprised, but if both lost I'd shit my pants. One of them is gonna win it plain and simple.

[Kimurafan]

Dude, Eddie is the man, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. He's beaten some great guys, but does that mean he's too good for Bellator? Maybe, maybe not. He had a great showing last year, but he even had trouble with some of those guys. Eddie got dropped against the first guy he fought in last year's tournament, I think it was Greg Loughran. Sure he won, but he still has a lot to work on. He also got floored by Tatsuya Kawajiri in DREAM, almost KOd. It also wasn't thtat long ago that he got heel-hooked by Shinya Aoki. He gets hit a lot and also doesn't always come out on top when he gets into scrambles and slugfests. I could certainly see Roger beating him. Plus, check out the other divisions guys, the featherweight and welterweight tournaments are stacked.

[Kimurafan]

I'm not saying you are wrong buddy. Do you think anybody BUT Roger or Eddie is going to win this tourney?? I don't, that's all I'm saying. I would be shocked if either one a tough fight until they fight each other, then that could be a great fight.

That's what they said about Alvarez vs. Masvidal last year, just saying...

[JCota]

I'm picking Roger Huerta...like Daley said, we'll bae back after the tourney...

[Dirty Daley]

kimura makes a great point in that while they maybe favourites,once the cage door closes bombs are thrown and moves are done that can end a fight,eddie and roger may have some good moves and experience but the guys stepping in are fighters also and the 2 favourites arent guarenteed to come out with hands raised especially as easy as you think misfit and guru.ive watched many of tournaments that have shocked me.i do agree with you misfit and guru that they are favourites to win but i just dont think as easy or as guarenteed as you think,anyone can win it.someone put why didnt they sign with strikeforce on page 1,i am more fans of them entering this tournament than going to strikeforce,they have added with there star power names to this tournament and are taking the chance of losing to no name guys.it is a matter of who is right and wrong as we have 2 different opinions and it should be fun to see how this play's out as we a few of us divided on this and alot of the time you never get to put a debate into action and get results and fact's on your opinions but at the end of bellator tournament a few of us will change our opinion,i will if im proved wrong that the big gunn's should be in the big leagues not the up and comer league.

[Dirty Daley]

alot of the guys in the tournament look like good up and comers and im eager to see if they can rise to the challenge to make that name for themselfes and make a quick jump to the big league and money.

[Discipline]

bellator is growing. if they are able to keep bringing in guys like alvarez and huerta then i think they could up the ante soon enough to bigger names. could be wrong, but i think bellator is doing good. but as said before, they are still young and can step back up to the big leagues with some good work.

[Misfit]

Great points guys and I don't fault Bellator for signing these guys. I think moves like these will get them to the SF/Dream/WEC status real quick. But I see Eddie being listed as #3 in the world, if that's the case, than I stand my ground with him fighting in a lessor org is wasting his time. If he's not really #3 and more like the bottom of the top 10, then I will agree with you guys. He still have a lot learn and move up in the ranks and a season of Bellator will give him that, that I agree with. I just hate the thought of a guy that many have listed at top 3 going to an org where he won't fight another top 10 guy. It's not just Eddie, any fighter that doesn't push themselves to fight the best just bothers me. It's good for the fans, this Bellator tourney is going to be fun to watch. I hope I'm wrong guys, I hope there are some really good fights and it doesn't turn into Dynamite 09 cause that was a complete joke to me. Great fighters fighting not so great fighters and the outcome was a given. But doesn't Eddie fighting Kenny, Marynard and BJ sound like better match ups??

[Discipline]

absolutely. and in all honesty im surprised he wasnt picked up by the ufc, even the wec if he could make the cut.

[Dirty Daley]

ouch the dynamite card,yeah misfit you are spot on with that. i do think dynamite should be about the best of the best fighting each other from that year but instead it's a bunch of washed up hasbin's or guys with not great records or overeem testing his juiced up arm's on tomatoe can's apart from badr hari,that was a great ko.

[Misfit]

Yeah, Dynamite really took a step back for me the way I few Dream. That was trash for the eyes. They still do the best production in all of MMA IMO, them and K1 have great camera shots and the replays of K1 are the sickest out there but this event was trash. I felt robbed and violated for watching that shit and I downloaded that crap for free. Dream needs to start making good fights again, not just a bunch of big names fighting not so big names. I would rather verp in my mouth that watch that again. Hey, I would rather have you verp in my mouth than watch that again.

[Discipline]

does it seem likie ALOT of orgs are starting to do this? minus the ufc unless they start doing it with toney and some of the newbies.

[Cisco]

I would rather verp in my mouth that watch that again. Hey, I would rather have you verp in my mouth than watch that again.

lmao!!! I'm stealing this one!!

[Misfit]

wow, been quoted twice, I feel special. And yeah, it is the helmet wearing type of special. :D

[Cisco]

Dude, I still got a cheezer on my face from that one!!

[Misfit]

lolololol Nice and it's a true story. God I was disappointed with that last show.

[Dirty Daley]

misfit what is a verp?? i honestly dont know.

[Discipline]

vomit/burp....ya know when you burp and that little extra comes up. :sick:

check out urbandictionary.com

[Misfit]

yep, Disc covered it. It's like a fart that leaves a stain but in your mouth.

[jwkempo]

Misfit.
Out here in the North East the MMA community is pretty close nit. Essentially everyone knows everyone or at least knows some who knows someone. Anyway I know a pro fighter that knows Alvarez. I asked this guy why Eddie is not fighting in the UFC. His response was money. Apparently he has been making much more fighting outside of the UFC. How true this is I have no idea. But that is what I was told.
It's an interesting dilemma, "cash" or "fame".

[MMA Guru]

Hmmmm, more money than the UFC pays? I mean, I'm not calling BS or anything jwkemp, but do you personally think they're paying more than the UFC? I'm wondering if the answer is yes only because he can dominate anywhere else but the UFC and so he's "like" a "top 10" without being in the UFC. IDK, it just seems like he'd make more money AND fame in the UFC.

[Misfit]

what some of these org are doing is offering a signing bonus which is some upfront money so I guess it could make sense. But it could just me more money now, less down the road. But I would also like to think he's getting less sponsor money being with a smaller org.

There was one thing Dana said about Tito that I think was dead on. He would step over a dollar to pick up a dime. Sometimes this guys don't understand how much the "UFC exposure" can lead to $$ in the wallet. But we shall see.

[jwkempo]

Misfit/Guru:
I don't want to drop names because it's not cool. But the guy that told me this has fought in the UFC and is a very successful regional fighter. I trust him to be honest. All I know is what he told me. Again this is just what I was told. Could be total BS or not. For instance, I have Red Line booked to fight on Ring Of Combat in Atlantic City. That promotion pays it's fighters based on ticket sales. Red Line could make more money in the ROC fight then he would in his UFC debut. That being said there are no fight bonus's I think. With ROC you sell tickets you make money. I've know guys that made over 10k between ticket sales and sponsors.

I totally agree with you guys. If Red Line were offered more money to fight in Japan or go to UFC for less money, who knows. Japan...easier fights....gets experience, UFC maybe less money very tuff fights, lose two in a row and you may get the boot, but great market recognition

[Misfit]

Very cool inside info JW, I trust you and your source to be honest. I just wonder if it was more money per fight, up front or at the end of the year. I would think and "think" being the key word that at years end, you would make more overall money fighting in the UFC but it's really not an area I know a lot about. Maybe it would be safer and more accurate to say that a fighter would have more net value after a year in the UFC versus any other org. But as you said, much, much tougher fights than any other org. But even guys like War can still get gigs. Again, thanks for the inside info.

[JCota]

Huerta has the world on a string. He could have lost a few fights and ended up the lightweight Latino "Forrest Griffin"...I wish him well and I'm a continued fan. I hope GOD blesses him and he wins the whole thing. This is very good for both of the parties involved. Roger needs to fight and Bellator needs some faces in the crowd that are legit stars to the public...Huerta is a great signing for him.

[jwkempo]

In the North East the best path to the UFC is through Ring Of Combat. I think they've launched over 9 UFC careers. I take my ammy fighters build them up slowly. Then when they get around 4 or 5 fights, I try to get them the hardest match ups I can. At around 10 fights it's time to consider turning pro. When Joe Silva calls Nick Lembo (NJ Athletic Commission) they don't give a crap about the ammy record. They care about pro record and it must be pristine. 5-0, 6-0 something like that. Getting a fighter to the UFC is hard but not impossible. Firstly you need a great fighter, then some connections help of course.

I guess Alvarez's management decided that to fight outside of the UFC would be best for Eddie?