Roger Huerta steps in on short notice to fight Patricky Freire at Bellator 205

[nuraknu]

Roger Huerta certainly doesn’t seem to mind facing some of the best Bellator has to offer.

Huerta, the longtime MMA veteran, will step in on short notice to fight Patricky Freire at Bellator 205 on Sept. 21 in Boise, Idaho, officials confirmed with MMA Fighting on Friday night. ESPN was the first to report the news and that Freire’s initial opponent, Goiti Yamauchi, withdrew due to injury.

Huerta (24-10-1, 1 NC) made his return to a United States promotion after seven years away against Benson Henderson at Bellator 196 in April, falling by second-round submission. This fight against Freire will mark Huerta’s first fight in the U.S. since 2011. Huerta, 35, is perhaps best known for being the first MMA fighter to ever appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, back during his run with the UFC in 2007....

Roger Huerta steps in on short notice to fight Patricky Freire at Bellator 205

 

[nuraknu]

Kind of sad about this. I was looking forward to the original fight with Yamauchi.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

Hard to imagine any outcome other than 'Pitbull by KO'.

 

[Mad Dog]

In for the return of Michelle Lopez to the MMA scene.

 

[member 3289]

Props to him.

He's gonna get mauled, but props.

 

[ECC170]

So they couldn't get another guy on "short notice" aka 5 weeks away? I'm not interested seeing shot fighters getting killed especially when they have over a month to find somebody.. sounds like a cop out on bellators part.. get a formidable opponent not a guy who has only won 3 fights in 10 years... what a let down

 

[ECC170]

Props to him.

He's gonna get mauled, but props.

His handlers need smacked

 

[tang]

Good for him, hope he doesn’t get braindamage too bad.

Whatever happened to that incident when Huerta was the Knight In Shining Armour stomping on dude’s head?

 

[sparkuri]

Huerta did NOT look bad his last outing against Henderson.
If he's taking this on short'ish notice, and has to drop to 55, he might be taking this seriously.
We might see old Roger make it interesting.

Yamauchi was the fight though.

 

[Haulport]

Uninteresting...

While I always liked Roger's style of fighting, he was never really that good to be honest and as soon as he started facing top competition regularly (starting with his win over Guida) he fell to pieces and is 4-9 in the past 10 years with his 4 wins being over such stellar opponents as:

• Chad Hinton
  
• Christian Holley
  
• Adrian Pang
  
• Hayder Hassan

 

[jason73]

roger needs to be fighting guys who he has a fair chance at beating. not being fed to the wolves because he has a name

 

[sparkuri]

roger needs to be fighting guys who he has a fair chance at beating. not being fed to the wolves because he has a name

At 35 I just don't think it's possible.
This seems mutually beneficial at this point.
He needs dough & another shot, they need a name.
If it ends poorly for him, he might hang them up, as he should.
He's a smart guy, and a dynamic personality.
I hope for his & family's sake he's got other ventures lined up.

 

[SongExotic2]

Not exactly short notice.

 

[TheEmperorRises]

roger needs to be fighting guys who he has a fair chance at beating. not being fed to the wolves because he has a name

That's the sport. The old get fed to the young.

 

[silentsinger]

Good for him, hope he doesn’t get braindamage too bad.

Whatever happened to that incident when Huerta was the Knight In Shining Armour stomping on dude’s head?

Hello and welcome to 2007.

 

[Mix6APlix]

Ive always liked roger. Love his tattoo. No homo, but almost. He isnt a point player, he comes to finish you. I like that attitude.

 

[Mad Dog]

Not exactly short notice.

Hopefully Roger has a good training camp and does well in his fight. I think in some ways everyone wants to see him do well. He was once a fan favorite.

 

[MachidaKarate]

Whatever happened to that incident when Huerta was the Knight In Shining Armour stomping on dude’s head?

That dude declined to pursue charges and it just went away.