ROGER HUERTA

Roger Huerta (born May 20, 1983), is an American mixed martial artist.He initially gained exposure by competing in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He now fights for Bellator Fighting Championships.

Huerta is of Mexican and Salvadoran descent. He has 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".Born to Lydia and Rogelio Huerta in Los Angeles, California, he spent the first 6 years of his life in Texas. His father became heavily involved in drugs and alcohol and began an affair with another woman that led to a separation with Lydia.

Huerta's mother became physically abusive, and when Huerta came to school with bruises covering his body, Child Protective Services intervened, placing him in a foster home for a short time. In 1990, Lydia lost the custody battle for Huerta and fled the United States with Huerta, age 7, to her parent's home in El Salvador. Shortly upon arriving, Lydia abandoned Huerta 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.Huerta 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. 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 3rd grade. At 12 his father left home and soon after was kicked out by his stepmother. 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.^[

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. He won his first six fights in the UFC, the first atUFC 63 against Jason Dent, which was declared "Fight of the Night".

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 and finishing 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.

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 to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine, for a story on the rising popularity of mixed martial arts.

Huerta won his next two fights against Doug Evans and Alberto Crane. He then faced Clay Guida in the 2007's 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, Huerta 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, connecting with a knee to the face while attempting a kick Guida. After a brief flurry, Huerta took his back and and submitted Guida by rear naked choke 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.

In order to complete his UFC contract,Huerta returned on September 16, 2009, but lost to Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19.^[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.

(wikipedia)

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