One of MMA’s original stars Roger Huerta is making his return to the cage tomorrow night, and he believes it will kick off a run to gold.
The California native famously starred on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May of 2007, marking the first time an MMA fighter had graced such a platform. He helped to catapult the UFC into more mainstream coverage with his exciting fight style.
But he began to drift from the spotlight after losing to Kenny Florian in 2008, and has since struggled to re-establish himself in ONE Championship, Bellator and other promotions. Now, he gets his chance at PFL with a four-fight deal, starting tomorrow night against Robert Whiteford.
Roger Huerta inks four-year deal with PFL
After his UFC star began to fade, Huerta made the switch to Bellator, where he struggled to recapture his hype before leaving for other options. He ended up fighting around the world before returning to the promotion in 2021, but was cut after losing four straight.
Since then, he has remained training and preparing for a comeback fight. He told media including Bloody Elbow ahead of his fight in Glasgow this weekend that he penned an heartfelt message to PFL’s Director of Fighter Operations in Europe Dan Hardy, who offered him one last chance at a run in the promotion.
“I hit up Dan and first off I wrote up something and then went ‘ah, put that away’ and went about my day,” he explained. “It took about three months to actually hit send, so I sent it to him and he said ‘let me figure things out and see what’s up.
“So he said basically ‘there’s not a position to get you back on to Bellator, but we have something for you over here at PFL, here’s the contract’. So I was like ‘sure, whatever,’ and I’m now here to showcase what I can do.
“For me, it’s not just this fight. We signed a four-fight deal and I’m going to go ahead and honour that and I’m grateful I was even able to get that from Dan. This is just, I guess, a roadmap to where I want to get to.
“I think that I am championship calibre, and I want to put my name in that hat… I am MMA, I am it. And this time around I’m really going to go and show that, I have fully dedicated everything, it’s been three years non-stop, not just when I signed.”
Roger Huerta details emotional moment he feared career was over
Following his loss to Chris Gonzalez at Bellator 255, Huerta was released from Bellator for the second time despite having one fight left on his deal. He made his case for being allowed to fight out that deal, but was unable to do so during coronavirus pandemic cuts.
And as his fortieth birthday came and went, he began to wonder if perhaps he would ever get the chance to fight again, and leave the sport on his terms. “When I got cut it was a big shock,” he admitted. “I was like ‘damn, what do I do now?’
“I’ve been in this sport 20-plus years, so three years has been, well, I’ve just been at it. I’ve been chopping away, chopping away. I’m trying to figure it out, I would call [Bellator matchmaker] Mike Kogan and say ‘I see you have some lightweights or 66kg on this card, I’ll do a short notice fight’.
“I was persistent, then I saw the acquisition when PFL took over Bellator and I was like ‘I still have one fight left on my contract, honor it guys’. Let me at least go out swinging, if they’re going to kick me out at least let me showcase what I can do.”
But when the call-up never came, he was stating to fear that there may not be a future for him in the sport. “I thought this was probably it,” he told Bloody Elbow. “But it wasn’t my call, I just kept on getting after it, I suppose.
“I’m not much of a drinker or a party-goer or any of those things. Anything that draws my attention is always this game and even from the sidelines I’m always still involved and watching who’s fighting who, who’s doing what. I sent a few emails, I was always like ‘oh this guy pulled out,’ offering to step in.”
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