Roger Huerta

Just wanted to give a quick shout in honour of Roger Huerta who is retiring after his fight with Gray Maynard tomorrow night to go and pursue a career in film.

Always an exciting fighter and one of the nicest guys in MMA, Roger endured a horrific childhood, abandoned by his parents and going from one home to another and even sleeping rough on rooftops when he was running with gangs and selling crap to tourists to stay alive in Mexico. He has every excuse to have a bad attitude but instead is a great example of how to strive to get ahead in life, and is yet another MMA star who should be an inspiration to others and has been a superb ambassador for our sport.

I'm sad to see him hang up his gloves as he's one of very few LW guys that I ever really enjoyed watching, but he has a chance to get minted in Hollywood and do something he enjoys so you have to be happy for him. Hopefully one day he'll come back.

Anyone else been a fan?

By the way, I don't know how they keep getting in there, but DON'T click on any of the links in the above message..... I have no idea where they lead.

Yep, very good and very exciting fighter, I will be pulling for him come wednesday/thursday but thats also because i dont really like maynard!

and the best of luck in acting, if hes as good of an actor as he is a fighter he'll do great.

I dont really like Maynard but I want to see him beat down Huerta. Im not a fan of anyone who doesnt have love for the sport. If you dont want to be an MMA figher dont expect support from MMA fans.

I think he is just cashing in on his prettyboy looks, he probabally cant act for shit. I think he should win this one, but it depends on how hard he has been working. Perhaps since it is only on a fight night and he is packing in fighting anyway he hasnt trained very hard?

It supprises me he is packing it in. Just because he got into the Tekken film doesnt mean he will be a success, He hasnt acted before so it will take him a long time to get serious roles and is a little on the small side to be an action hero (Plus they are a dieing breed!!) Anyway I dont see him making it as an actor. I think this is a decision he will regret.

Im not a fan after hearing that he wanted to leave MMA but he has put on some good scraps and could have been a contender. Wasted tallent.

Harsh words Ben mate!! He's fought 23 times in the last 6yrs so he's been more active than some of the bigger names. And let's not forget Cung and Randy are partial to the odd film role as well.....

I don't think he's disrespecting MMA at all, he's always vocal about how martial arts is everything to him and has got him to the life he has nowadays. When he started earning money from the UFC he bought a house for all his training partners and people who helped him up the ladder to live in with him, and I'd be fairly confident that he'll carry on training full time even if he's not competing. He's said himself that he knows you can't fight forever (unless you're Dan Severn!) so he wants another career to set himself up for later, that's got to be fair enough?

You're a fan of Frank Shamrock bro and he did exactly the same thing, 'retiring' after the Tito fight at roughly the same age as Roger is now. Ok Frank had achieved more, but he went off and did his acting and his law enforcement traning, basically just putting his talents to other uses but he never forgot his art.

I'm pretty confident even an out of shape Huerta would smash Maynard, but I don't think he's the type to have let himself go in between fights, we'll see tomorrow.......

Kind of agree with Ben, I don't mind him but the UFC put a lot of work into him and this isn't the way to repay them. I hate Le and I don't like F Shamrock either, I wouldn't mind if he did it once and got back to fighting but he is quitting for good which I don't like. He is a good fighter for sure and is exciting but how he disrespects opponents (Most notably Florian) also pisses me off.

I think Maynard wins this either way, I know he isn't liked, I don't like him but he is effective. He was able to outwrstle guys like Edgar and Miller so he should be able to take Huerta down who was easily outwrestled by Guida, who in turn is not a strong a wrestler as Maynard. I wish Huerta well in the future.

I just dont like a guy with no love for the sport.. Maby its about money, UFC really do Fuck some guys over they dont pay fighers nearly as well as they should... as discussed a million times thats the fighers fault for not negotiating enough but in a way they can because UFC is nearly the be all and end all for a fighter who wants to compete in the US and eanr half decent money.

I dont know what Huerta is on but It wouldnt shock me for him to get $100,000 Upwards as a payday before bonus under a new contract. With a win over Maynard he would be in a great position to bargin with the UFC, he is Mexican and they want to crack that market? Theres good money in it for him, Lets not forget sponsors etc.. Theres big money to be made so changing to acting for me isnt about having a secure career or because he cant do MMA forever but he is young and has say 10 more years in the game. 3 figths a yea... 3 million plus win bonus sponsors... theres oppertunity to make a few million anyway, He is going to have to be a big actor to be making a few million, Randy etc.. get parts off the back of being fighters... I dont know if he will when he hangs the gloves up.

I just dont think he has love for the sport at all. I know Randy and Cung have their side projects as well and I really resnet Cung for the same reason, If he wasnt the most flashy entertaining figher Id really hate him for leaving MMA for so long, But I suppose he does have the Age excuse.

Ill always have more love for a figher whos life is MMA, Guys like Wanderlei who live off the emotion of the fight, the cheers of the fans etc.. Huerta for me is a bit of a pretty boy who would rather live off his looks than his fists...

Dont get me wrong I enjoy his fights, he has really entertained me at times and is a good figher to watch. If he was staying in UFC id be a fan, but come tomorrow night ill be hoping Maynard drops him on his head and ruins those looks he is planning on making a career off!!

Be surprised if we don't see him again, he already left the ufc once to become a model. Was on the cover of sports illustrated or something and it went to his head

Ben, over the last year since I joined 606 I've come to respect yours as the voice of reason when it comes to MMA, and I still do, but I can't let you get away with doing in Huerta's character and his respect for the sport..........

Let's look at the two characters in tomorrow's fight:
Maynard went to a decent school, went on TUF, knocked himself out with a slam which only a twat would do, and then basically got things handed to him by White. Sure, he's a good fighter, but there's nothing to suggest that MMA is anything more than a job and a passion to him. He was just another high school wrestler who took it to the next level.

Huerta used MMA to get himself out of the literal gutter into a life where he could be somebody, for him it was never a case of missing a session at Extreme Couture because there was something good on at the MGM Grand... he trained and fought because without it he had nothing. He is an example, like Thiago Silva, of someone who fought in the beginning because if he didn't then someone would probably have fucked him up on the street somewhere and left him for dead. Gray Maynard doesn't know what that's like, and neither do I. Roger could easily have gone down the wrong path but he chose our sport instead and tried to be a better person.

I will always respect a guy who stands up under circumstances like that, and when he was sleeping rough he probably felt like even a small role in Hollywood was a world away, so when he gets offered it he takes it. He's still a young kid.... and at that age who doesn't want to be a movie star??

Sorry bro for being fucking annoying about this, but this guy has put more effort and more of his soul into MMA than 95% of the guys out there today.

Paolo fair point, I honeslty didnt know Rogers story and to be honest I like him as a figher. I suppose my Issue is its hard to get behind a fighter who is leaving MMA for anything... Especially as its not for Boxing or a combat sport. Ive a tonne of respect for someone who fought his way out of the gutter, Its the classic underdog story but Every fighter that has left for a while to make a movie hasnt impressed me.

Ramapge is leaving to do the A-team and I was pissed off, I said he was throwing his career as a top contender away. I though he would come back 1 dimentional with Ring Rust and loose.

Randy left to make movies and I critisised his move, I said at his age he hadnt many fights left and should stick to fighting and do movies when he retired.

Cung Le has left ages ago to make movies and although he is a fighter I really like I want to see him stripped of his title For not defending it (Overeem too but thats a bit off topic!)

Point is it wasnt ment to sound like a real attack on Roger, Its a cool story and he seems a good guy too so Its not an attack on him I just hate to see good MMA fighers wasting their tallent on other things. Its bad enough missing a fight but seeing a young tallented figher retire for movies pisses me off. I suppose if they didnt get such shite money it might be a different story.

To fightrers like Nog or Wandy etc.. fighting is their life, Maby it was Rogers too but isnt anymore. One thing I love in a figher is a passion for the Sport, Watching Wanderlei after a fight saying he hope it was entertaining and is thankfull for support etc.. is such a likeable quality. I dont know enough of Huerta to say he wasnt the exact same but I would feel the same to a figher like Shogun who was leaving for Movies I would think, Id rather see someone who is stayting in MMA win that someone who is done with it If you understand...

Id be defending a fighter I liked the same sp fair play. I really liked Huerta after his Epic with Guida and seeing him use the big screen to hit the backwards elbows the guy on his back were cool moments! But like I said it wasnt an attack on Huerta... All Mexican fighers are good guys in my eyes! I just would take the same attitude to any tallented fighter ditching MMA

That all makes sense mate.... I've had the same feelings towards Randy and Rampage (especially) because I've felt that they're denying me the chance to see them in great fights by going off and doing other things. I suppose I feel different about Huerta because he's seen out his contract and has been upfront about his plans, whereas I thought the way Page signed to fight Rashad and then bailed out was a totally different affair.

Either way, let's hope the card tonight shapes up with some good fights!

I have lost more respect for Rampage than Huerta to be honest.
Rampage is taking time off to do a movie which is causing the highly anticipated fight with Evans to be canceled, after declining a fight with Lyoto Machida, taking more time out to do the ultimate fighter.
Huerta has quit MMA and is only taking this fight to fulfill his contractual obligations.
Roger just wants to be an actor, Rampage wants to do both. (and he is a terrible actor)

Huerta is one of my favourite fighters. He's a really exciting fighter who always gave it everything. But i think he's right to take the chance to make a name in films and more importantly, set himself up financially. He definitely does love fighting but i think he understands the business very well and knows that you have to maximize your earnings when you get the chance.

I don't think he wanted to fight Maynard but Dana is a prick and wouldn't let him out of the contract(despite having let many others out early). Huerta would beat Maynard on most nights. At his best he's a top 10 LW and i do believe he will be back to MMA in a few years, after he's made his name in films.