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Roger Huerta

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Roger Huerta
File:Roger el matador huerta.jpg
Born (1983-05-20) May 20, 1983 (age 41)
Los Angeles, California
Other namesEl Matador
NationalityAmerican
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st)
Reach70.0 in (178 cm)
StyleGreco-Roman Wrestling, Kickboxing
Fighting out ofMinneapolis, Minnesota
TeamJackson's Submission Fighting
Mixed martial arts record
Total26
Wins21
By knockout11
By submission5
By decision4
Losses3
By submission1
By decision2
Draws1
No contests1

Roger Huerta (born May 20, 1983 in Los Angeles, California), is an American mixed martial artist of Mexican and Salvadoran descent.[1] He initally gained exposure by competing in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He now fights for Bellator Fighting Championships. Roger makes his acting debut as Miguel Caballero Rojo in the live action motion picture Tekken.

Early life

Roger Huerta had a long and difficult early childhood right up to his teen years, overcoming many challenges and has been described as having the "life that Hollywood producers make movies about".[2] Born to Lydia and Rogelio Huerta in Los Angeles, California, he spent the first 6 years of his life in Texas.[3] His father became heavily involved in drugs and alcohol and began an affair with another woman that led to a separation with Lydia.[4]

Roger's mother became physically abusive, and when Roger came to school with bruises covering his body, Child Protective Services intervened, placing him in a foster home for a short time.[1] In 1990, Lydia lost the custody battle for Roger and fled the United States with Roger, age 7, to her parent's home in El Salvador. Shortly upon arriving, Lydia abandoned Roger leaving him in the care of his grandparents at the time of the El Salvadoran Civil War. She returned a year later to only leave him on his father's doorstep in Texas. That was the last time he saw his mother.[1] Roger openly talks about his mental and physical abuse endured by his father and stepmother in that year. The next year he was relocated to Mexico and left with his father's parents living in poverty. They would often send him out into the streets selling picture frames to tourists to make money.[1] For a brief time, his father and stepmother came back into his life where they moved to the Rio Grande Valley and enrolled him half way through the year into grade 3. When he was 12, his father left home and soon after was kicked out. He lived on the streets for many years and survived by joining a youth gang. He often slept in alleys and on rooftops, but was encouraged by his friends to remain in school where he could eat a provided breakfast and lunch.[1]

He occasionally stayed with friends and just before his freshman year, his life began to turn around for the better. Maria King, his friend's mother, obtained legal custody of him and the three moved to Austin, Texas where he attended Crockett High School. For one of the first times in his life he found himself in a stable environment and became quite popular in school and joined many of the school's sports teams including football and wrestling. It was there he met Jo Ramirez, his English teacher, where she learned about his troubled childhood in a conversation discussing his future ambitions. Furthermore, Bryan Ashford, the school's wrestling teacher, took a special interest in Huerta and continued to supported him in division wrestling. Ramirez, already a mother of seven, adopted Roger in 2002 at the age of 19.[5]

Ashford coached Huerta and with the help of Ramirez, aided him in applying for a collegiate wrestling scholarship. Huerta attends Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota with one year remaining in a Business Management bachelors degree[6] and resided in St. Paul, Minnesota.[7]

Huerta worked for a time as a bouncer and construction worker.[8]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

In Huerta's pre-UFC career, his first loss came as a result of a dislocated jaw early in the finals of the SuperBrawl 36 tournament against Ryan Schultz on June 18, 2004, his third match of the day.[9]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Roger Huerta was originally slated to make his UFC debut against Hermes Franca at UFC 61, but was forced to withdraw from the fight as the result of an elbow injury.[10] He won his first six fights in the UFC, the first at UFC 63 against Jason Dent, which was declared "Fight of the Night".[11]

His next fight was against UFC newcomer John Halverson at UFC 67. The fight ended by TKO after 19 seconds of round one after Huerta landed a knee to the shoulder/head area of a grounded Halverson, knocking him down where Huerta finished him with punches. The end of the bout was controversial as knees to the head of grounded opponents are illegal under UFC rules. It was later shown in a replay that Huerta's knee was actually to the shoulder rather than to the head.[12]

Next he fought in a three round war with Leonard Garcia at UFC 69. winning via unanimous decision. After the fight, in May 2007, Huerta became the first mixed martial artist[13] to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine to showcase its first story on the rising popularity of mixed martial arts.[14]

Huerta won his next two fights against Doug Evans and Alberto Crane before he faced and submitted Clay Guida by rear naked choke in the third round on December 8, 2007 at The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale. Huerta was visibly frustrated at losing in the grappling exchanges from Guida's wrestling offensive, spending a large part of the bout on his back fending off ground and pound from his opponent. Late in the second round he was stunned by a punch to the face while trying to get to his feet, but managed to survive until the end of the round. Early in the third round, Huerta looked to engage Guida on his feet. Huerta stunned Guida with a knee to the face while attempting a kick when Guida looked to shoot and after a brief flurry, took his back and proceeded to submit him very late in the fight for an impressive come-from-behind win.

Huerta then lost his next fight by unanimous decision (all judges scored the bout 30–27) at UFC 87 against Kenny Florian.

On January 9, 2009, Huerta announced an indefinite hiatus from MMA to further pursue opportunities in acting.[15]

In order to complete his UFC contract,[13] Huerta returned on September 16, 2009 but lost to Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19.[16]. After a back and forth fight, he would end up losing a split decision in his bout against Maynard, with the bout scored 28–29, 30–27, 30–27.

Bellator career

On Roger's personal Twitter account, he announced he was in talks with Strikeforce[17]

Instead of Strikeforce, Roger signed with up and coming promotion, Bellator Fighting Championships. He is one of eight men to compete in the second season lightweight tournament with the winner receiving a title shot against Eddie Alvarez.[18]

His first fight in the tournament took place at Bellator 13, with Huerta defeating his opponent Chad Hinton via submission (kneebar) at 0:56 of the third round.

Training

Roger trained for his UFC fight with Kenny Florian fight with Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting[19]. For his Bellator debut, he spent time in Thailand, and put together a training camp with MMA fighters such as UFC veteran Yves Edwards, International Fight League veteran Shad Lierley, Bellator veterans Jared Hess (fighter) and Dave Menne, and pioneer Jeff Clark (fighter) out of the Phil Cardella / Relson Gracie Academy in Austin, TX[20].

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
26 matches 21 wins 3 losses
By knockout 11 0
By submission 5 1
By decision 4 2
By disqualification 1 0
Draws 1
No contests 1
Date Result Record Opponent Event Method Round Time Notes
2010-05-06 TBA Bellator 17 Lightweight Tournament Semi-Final bout
2010-04-08 Win 21-3-1(1) United States Chad Hinton Bellator 13 Submission (Kneebar) 3 0:56 Lightweight Tournament Opening Round
2009-09-16 Loss 20–3–1(1) United States Gray Maynard UFC Fight Night 19: Diaz vs. Guillard Decision (Split) 3 5:00
2008-08-09 Loss 20–2–1(1) United States Kenny Florian UFC 87: Seek and Destroy Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
2007-12-08 Win 20–1–1(1) United States Clay Guida The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale Submission (Rear naked choke) 3 0:51
2007-08-25 Win 19–1–1(1) United States Alberto Crane UFC 74: Respect TKO (Strikes) 3 1:50
2007-06-23 Win 18–1–1(1) United States Doug Evans The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale TKO (Strikes) 2 3:30
2007-04-07 Win 17–1–1(1) United States Leonard Garcia UFC 69: Shootout Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
2007-02-03 Win 16–1–1(1) United States John Halverson UFC 67: All or Nothing TKO (Strikes) 1 0:19
2006-09-23 Win 15–1–1(1) United States Jason Dent UFC 63: Hughes vs Penn Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
2006-04-29 Win 14–1–1(1) United States Joe Camacho Raze MMA" Fight Night TKO (Punches) 2 2:43
2006-02-17 Win 13–1–1(1) United States Dan Swift Extreme Challenge 66 TKO (Punches) 2 0:51
2005-10-15 Win 12–1–1(1) United States Lee King IFC: Rumble on the Rio 2 Submission (Rear naked choke) 1 0:50
2005-09-14 Win 11–1–1(1) United States Matt Wiman FFC 15: Fiesta Las Vegas Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
2005-07-30 Win 10–1–1(1) United States Brad Blackburn IFC: Rock N' Rumble TKO (Corner Stoppage) 3 2:19
2005-03-05 NC 9–1–1(1) United States Melvin Guillard Freestyle Fighting Championship 14 NC (Overturned by Commission) 3 5:00 Guillard greased in between rounds.
2005-03-05 Win 9–1–1 United States Kenny Jerrell Freestyle Fighting Championship 14 TKO (Punches) 1 2:15
2005-03-05 Win 8–1–1 United States Steve Kinnison Freestyle Fighting Championship 14 Submission (Choke) 2 N/A
2004-12-03 Win 7–1–1 Japan Naoyuki Kotani Xtreme Fighting Organization 4 TKO (Punches) 1 1:29
2004-11-12 Win 6–1–1 United States Jake Short Extreme Challenge 60 Submission (Rear naked choke) 3 0:37
2004-09-24 Win 5–1–1 United States Matt Brady Extreme Challenge 59 TKO 1 3:12
2004-06-18 Loss 4–1–1 United States Ryan Schultz SuperBrawl 36 Submission (Verbal) 1 1:47
2004-06-18 Win 4–0–1 United States Mike Aina SuperBrawl 36 Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00
2004-06-18 Win 3–0–1 United States Harris Sarmiento SuperBrawl 36 TKO (Strikes) 3 2:12
2004-03-26 Draw 2–0–1 United States Joe Jordan Extreme Challenge 56 Draw 3 3:00
2003-08-02 Win 2–0 United States Jeff Carlson EC – Best of the Best 2 – Day Event DQ N/A N/A
2003-08-02 Win 1–0 United States Shane Lavafor EC – Best of the Best 2 – Day Event TKO N/A N/A

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Jon Wertheim (Monday October 8, 2007). "Right at Home: Roger Huerta has found solace as rising star in UFC". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2009-09-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ "Roger Huerta". Ultimate-Fighter.ca. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  3. ^ "Roger Huerta, My Fight 4 Kids". Roger Huerta's Official Website. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  4. ^ Myron P. Medcalf (August 8, 2008). "Roger Huerta's life: His toughest fight". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  5. ^ "May-23-2008 Huerta Q&A Highlights video". UFC.com. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  6. ^ "Roger Huerta – Saving Nothing for The Swim Back". UFC.com. 2007-01-31. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  7. ^ "The Ultimate Fighter next door". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  8. ^ "UFC Roger Huerta". UFC.com. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  9. ^ "Ryan Schultz vs. Roger Huerta". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  10. ^ "Injury Forces Huerta Off UFC 61 Card". Sherdog.com. 2006-07-01. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  11. ^ "MythBusters 101: Delusions about 155-pound prospect Roger Huerta". StrictlyMMA.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  12. ^ "UFC 67 Full Review: Silva, Cro Cop, Jackson Win". MMA Weekly. 2007-02-04. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  13. ^ a b "Huerta-Maynard in Works for September". Sherdog.com. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  14. ^ "'Sports Illustrated' Cover Features the UFC". MMAjunkie.com. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  15. ^ "Huerta Passes on UFC Contract". Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  16. ^ "UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard". UFC.com. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  17. ^ >"Roger Huerta heading to Strikeforce?". watchkalibrun.com. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  18. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/18306/bellator-calls-monday-press-conference-expected-to-announce-signing-of-roger-huerta.mma
  19. ^ http://www.mmamania.com/2008/05/05/roger-huerta-to-train-with-greg-jackson-camp/
  20. ^ http://www.cagepotato.com/exclusive-bellator-13-pre-fight-interviews-featuring-roger-huerta-joe-warren-more
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