Roger Huerta is getting a ton of attention lately. And it appears to be for all the wrong reasons.
“El Matador” has perhaps his biggest test to date this weekend when he takes on Kenny Florian at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on August 9. With a win he will likely distinguish himself as the clear-cut number one contender in the division.
But he may never get to challenge for the title even if he does win if he can’t ink a contract extension, which is a very real possibility if things don’t change soon, according to Dave Meltzer at WrestlingObserver.com.
Here’s his analysis:
“Huerta, who has one fight left on his contact after the Florian fight, is far apart with UFC on terms for a renewal. Huerta, who has gotten a new agent, was asking for six-figures guaranteed per fight as well as points on the PPV, in negotiations that haven’t gone well for some time. That’s a better deal then [BJ] Penn, so he wasn’t going to get it. The UFC position is that they groomed Huerta and pushed him hard and were careful of his opponents, with the exception of Clay Guida….”
UFC President Dana White will not allow Huerta to challenge for a belt until he re-signs. It’s policy that the promotion follows to ensure champions defend their titles and don’t bolt for another organization or tie-up the division with contract negotiations.
In short, he can’t challenge for the title with just one fight remaining on his contract.
This of course come on the heels of Huerta dropping a bombshell in Fight! magazine recently, revealing that he’s not pleased with his current arrangement with the UFC. In addition, he was apparently ticked that the promotion twisted his pre-fight interview to insinuate that his fight with Florian would be a “cake walk” (Huerta was actually comparing this fight to his rough and tumble upbringing).
Indeed, there appears to be some trouble in paradise between the “golden boy” and the promotion that has attempted to build him as a cross-over cultural star.
And things could go from bad to worse if he winds up with his hand raised in victory Saturday night. Florian, however, might be able to do something about that.
138 Comments »
Huerta can’t beat BJ, and once Florian “finishes” him (see what I did) he’ll be back to the bottom. His best win is over a way over rated Clay Guida. I don’t understand his hype as much as I don’t get Huerta’s. This is my opinion guys, disagree if you want, I respect that, quit bashing opinions though, everyones opinion is different, thats why we’re here!
Seriously, this guy is nuts. Who has he beat to be asking for that kind of money. He was getting handled by the first real competition(Guida). Headlining a UFN has really turned into a queen. I am going to enjoy seeing him eat “hellbows” from Kenflo. Then maybe he’ll realize you need to do something in this sport before opening your mouth.
Personally, I think he will be handed his next loss by Florian this weekend, and that may shut him up. I don’t know where Huerta thinks he is going to be able to fight and make that kind of money. None of the other organizations are even promoting the lightweight division much, and certainly aren’t gonna shell out 6 figures for a lightweight fighter who never held a belt.
Huerta is just digging his hole deeper and deeper. After Florian beats him down this weekend what will he say. What a douche… He wants more money than the current champion, but won’t even be able to put enough wins together to get a title shot.
I like Huerta, but the stuff coming out of his mouth is just foolish. Sounds like his inflated ego + new management = a dilusional Huerta.
Huerta + new agent = ego jerk….Randy + New Wife = ego jerk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tito + Jenna = creature?
Who is his agent? DRew Rosenhause? I think the UFC should only give pay per view revenue’s to the fighters that compete in the main events. Huerta has never been the main event of a UFC pay per view, so to ask for 6 figures and portions of the pay per view money is just INSANE!!!
exactly beating Guida and Garcia don;t get you the big pay days.
No patients… He should be happy, his face is on more promos than St-Pierre.
St-Pierre went through the bigest gauntlet of credible fighters, like no other fighter has been able to do before him, yet where is all the smack that St Pierre could be talking.
Not until recently has his coin been looking respectable, before his advertised payday came in pretty low for a heavyweight Champ, let alone a contender. Yet he has never made a peep, he’s never chosen an aponent, and still the media doesn’t give this guy the Hype, Exposer and familiariy it gives other fighters.
I would like someone to find me a fighter whos gone through a tougher road of fighters?
Huerta I used to be a big Fan but, your letting the hype get in front of the path to your original goal.
sorry bout the spelling, I’m French me there.
I agree he hasn’t had the toughest road to where he is at but I think he is getting put through the PR ringer (for the UFC’s gain) while his whole life is on hold and the compensation he’s getting now is not worth it. I think that’s his main gripe. But maybe he just needs to pay his dues until the big paydays come. Hell, Kimbo’s gettin his and that’s got to be hard to take as a fighter. But he is becoming a face of the UFC lately with his push and he just wants to be paid like one. Although he should have learned that you don’t make squabbles like this public, especially when Dana is involved.
I agree with CAP… you can’t forget the marketing side of business. Look at Brock Lesnar - getting huge money for than his MMA skills. If the UFC ars using Huerta as a poster boy then he should be compensated for it.
exactly but how do you think you make it to the big dollars? you do your PR, guy’s are working twice as much as he is to get a tenth of the rewards, lets face it not every mma’er has SPIKE TV exposer, so who should I give credit to for hooking huerta with all this?
I couldn’t agree more, Huerta needs to shut his mouth & worry about Kenflo this weekend. Its really unbelievable that this guy is getting so cocky so fast. The only guy he’s fought is Guida and i feel that he got lucky to get that submission in the end of the fight. Clay got careless because he knew he was winning the fight & ended up on the loosing end. Tito as much as i disagree with some of his actions, had the right to speak out to the UFC because he was a former UFC Champion and trend setter in the sport of MMA. Who is Roger Huerta to be demanding six figures per fight and a piece of the PPV.
by the way, cognito, I’m still anxiously waiting for your reply, I need to nap, I’ll check back in a couple hours. peace out guys!!!!
*I’ve been trying to reply and been moderated pretty hardcore. The only thing I haven’t liked about the news updates or the Morning conversations is the fact that John doesn’t site his sources sometimes or that your replies always begin Sunday morning Conversations with Kevin like you are on the Good morning America or something. But I’ll start from Tabula Rasa and go from there. I apologize that I was a little more forward with my statements than I should have been*
Anyway I do post my thoughts and this is a thought of mine on this topic. Maybe the UFC could make a post title fight agreement with Huerta. If he were to beat Florian and face Penn that is. How it would work is they would create a sort of contract stating an agreement on a future contract set on certain preconditions. And what that means is they would agree to a higher figure if Huerta beats Penn and a lower figure or just give Huerta the right to leave when he loses to Penn. I see this as a win win for the UFC and Huerta because he still gets his title shot, the UFC does not have to over pay him, and the UFC also gets to tarnish his reputation for other orgs with a loss over Penn. This probably won’t happen and I’d say look for Huerta to be facing Sherk next. (I know Sherk is fighting Tyson next but I’m pretty sure he’ll win that one)
so you like my write up, but I should change the intro. I’ll take it under advisement!
hes defenitley digging his own grave. maybee he’s been talking to jacob to much.
This sounds like his new agent is filling his head with a load of crap. You ill not get paid more than BJ Penn until you beat him. Huerta needs to find an agent that has his long term interest at heart, not just the dollar signs.
Maybe the UFC could make a post title fight agreement with Huerta. If he were to beat Florian and face Penn that is. How it would work is they would create a sort of contract stating an agreement on a future contract set on certain preconditions. And what that means is they would agree to a higher figure if Huerta beats Penn and a lower figure or just give Huerta the right to leave when he loses to Penn. I see this as a win win for the UFC and Huerta because he still gets his title shot, the UFC does not have to over pay him, and the UFC also gets to tarnish his reputation for other orgs with a loss over Penn. This probably won’t happen and I’d say look for Huerta to be facing Sherk next. (I know Sherk is fighting Tyson next but I’m pretty sure he’ll win that one)
I think all the people who are pissed at Huerta have a very good point - He’s asking for far too much.
That said, I’m way more pissed that Dana’s admitting to building up fighters by handing them guys the should beat. This is not the same as actually fixing a fight, but it’s damn close!
I saw him talking about how they built up the UFC with a lot of smoke & mirrors - guess who the fools are!? Us….the guys forking over $45 or $55 (HD) a PPV.
I agree that Huerta is asking for too much, but I also think the fighters don’t have a leg to stand on. It’s one against the UFC…..I still think they need to unionize.
That would keep dumb ass demands like Huerta’s in check, but would also give the fighters a way to negotiate with the powers that be. I know people disagree with me on that, but that’s my opinion.
The UFC has all the power, while the fighters have none!
Two words … Houston Alexander
Those were the words of Dave Meltzer not Dana but that is the general consensus. I am sure that’s how Dana feels, However it isn’t a quote from him
The solution here is easy. Give him a 4 fight deal with salary conditioned to fight results. first fight something like 50+50 which it will stay at if he loses. If he beats Kenflo then 70+70 for his fight with BJ. If he gets the title he gets 100+75 plus small points for the last two fights. He gets it but he has to earn it first.
Huerta gets alot of hype because
a) he represents the Latino demographic the UFC is trying to tap into
b) he is good looking (gets the women to watch)
c) he has an aggressive style that is exciting to the casual MMA fan (the UFC has the hardcore fans)
Huerta sees all of this and is trying to get paid. I am not going to rip on him for that.
People always ask for alot more than what they know they will get anyway. Huerta is not going to lowball himself.
He is definitely not subtle but considering that he is a young fighter and not a slick oiled lawyer, I will cut him some slack.
I still think Flo wins by decision.
Good points OJR. This is like any other professional business, it’s all just negotiating.
Just seems “convenient” Huerta has “negotiation” problems, so when he loses, that’s his excuse that his mind was elsewhere….. I was going to bet on him to pull the upset, now I’m just gonna keep my money.
I think tapping that Arianny ass is throwing him off.
That’s funny because that is what I was thinking. If I were Dana, I would use that as a perk to the job for Huerta. That alone should be worth some jack!!!
I would like to see him stay but not a BJ money, not yet at least!
Kevin, I think most fans see Huerta the same way as u do. It’s too early in his career to be a disgruntled UFC employee. Huerta is banking on the fact he’s a big draw and really not considering all the other factors involved that got him there.
Huerta’s negotiations will bite him in the ass if/when he loses to Florian. If he beats Florian, White will sit tight on principle alone for openly speaking out about his contract. Asking for more money than BJ Penn is silly and a waste of time.
Here are a few things Dana White said at a press conference in toronto today. Also said he was glad Tim lost to Fedor, “tim has been boring me for a long time.”
Dana says that according to the UFC’s best guess, Affliction lost 4 to 5 million dollars on their show, and said “I’m not going to make it easy for them” . He made a point that Affliction doesn’t know that there are a tonne of things that they don’t know yet.
Championship fights will be between fighters that people want to see fighting each other. Rankings aren’t that important if a fight isn’t going to sell PPVs.
The WEC will eventually become just the lower weight divisions, and the higher division fighters will make their way up to the UFC.
Dana said they wanted to keep Arlovski, but that Arlovski wants to box as well, and that was the major hurdle in resigning him. UFC fighters are exclusive, and apparently Arlovski is boxing on HBO later this year.
Experienced, successful MMA CEO’s are a rare commodity, the knowledge White has to make a successful MMA company is priceless. Affliction has to wisely figure it out, eating millions along the way. Luv him or Hate him, sometimes wrong but almost always right. White is always progressing in his big decisions to do the right things for Zuffa to keep them on top. Eventually scaling down the WEC to the lighter weights seems to be the right call while triming off the fat.
guys, fighters arent as stupid as you think they are. They(at least the majority) are not going to ask for a ridiculous amount of money if they know the company doesnt have it. You all need to wake up and realize that the UFC is not a start up company anymore. By PPV numbers alone, we know the UFC can afford more…The fighers know that, the fans know that, and the journalists know that. These fighters know it better than we do as fans, the fans just tend to speculate and we pretend we know more than the truth sometimes just because we follow the sport.
We are not behind closed doors like the fighters are so we really dont know squat. One thing we do know is that alot of these fighters wouldnt be leaving so carelessly like they have been if they knew they couldnt get the money they are asking somewhere else, or better yet, be treated better. Roger has all the right to ask for a raise, He is being used for his services in making the company more money with expanding. Put yourselves in his shoes, if your company was employing your services for extra work and you werent getting compensated like the next person who was doing the exact same thing, would you be ok with that???? I THINK NOT!
Six figures? This fool’s crazy.
Comical. The criteria for getting PPV points is being a sufficient draw–would I watch or not watch a PPV based on the presence or absence of Roger?
Answer: Nope (not even close)
If he wants to chase more dollars, he can go to affliction and get a couple of nice paychecks before they fold. Has no one explained that insolvent companies don’t honor their contracts?
Also, his complaining makes him less attractive to fans and therefore less valuable to sponsors.
ppv points? he doesn’t sell, I get why tito or brock lesner get points, they sell ppv’s, but huerta couldn’t get me to buy a ppv!
No doubt! Even talking about a cut of the PPV at this point is crazy.
Honestly this kid is a b!tch, the UFC hands him can after can and he barely beats guida and he thinks he deserves Liddell money?! Go ahead, leave overhyped chump! Once again just my opinion
Well, said. That’s not to say he not a “good” fighter, but he’s obviously mistaken about what he’s “worth.”
Maybe Kenny will give him a little dose of reality?
I couldn’t agree more Dude. There are plenty of better fighters at 155. The UFC should send him packing and never let him come back. Ooops! I forgot. Kenny Florian is going to do that. Good luck Roger.
good opinion though, he’ll be the next elite champ…oh wait, he can’t beat Diaz, he’ll be the next wec champ, oh wait faber would kill him. guess he can go to palace fighting or somewhere else, I for one won’t miss him!
just so you know i basically agree with you but if he stayed in the same weight division and fought in the wec huerta would be fighting jamie varner. who he probably could beat. don’t mean to nit pick but that was obvious
I am officially rooting for KenFlo now, and I hate Florian.
you’re rooting for the guy you hate? lol
Unfortunatly yes, I think Huerta needs to be humbled.
agreed
Same. I’m the guy who ranted about the Hell-bows being a cheap way to win, but I think my allegiances are shifting.
Well mine ain’t. and I don’t care about all the bitchin’. but as you’ve guys mentiones, fight first before money. Strut your stuff first!!
Another example of the racist UFC and Dana ‘White’ keeping a minority fighter down.
are you being serious? silva, rampage, kongo, nog, etc all not white. Huerta is from the US to. if anything, it’s the opposite, they over hype this kid trying to reel in the mexican fan base, and this is the appreciation they get!
and a french Candien eh!
People, People. Can’t you see that this is a troll?
Racist? Minority?! WTF?!??
Come on now, the UFC did the opposite, they built him up. Don’t you think it’s a bit premature to be demanding PPV %, when he’s not even HEADLINING yet(if ever)? Though it was low of the UFC to make it sound that he thought Kenny would be a cake walk.
I hope you are kidding Swede.
Oh Jesus. HEre we go with this stupid race shit again.
Can’t blame Kenny the Swede for feeling that way. Everyone hates on the Swedes with their really unappealing blond hair and blue eyes. Nobody anywhere finds that look attractive.
This had better be a joke.
HW Champ - Brazilian (Interim but Randy isn’t coming back)
LHW Champ - American
MW Champ - Brazilian
WW Champ - Canadian
LW Champ - American
How can the UFC be a racist organisation?
shut up
Huh?
Gotta love the fact that before he won all those fights he was just an up and coming fighter, and now that he is established he wants big bucks. Doesn’t he owe some credit to Dana and the UFC for getting him where he is? He should still be happy to just compete in the UFC and get paid for it at all. The promotion survived without him and will survive without him, he needs to realize that.
He owes so much to the UFC, if they had not put him on Ultimate fight night he would be nowhere he is now. Dana made him.
Roger Huerta is way over in his head. Without that lucky knee, Guida would have won him. He got exposed. In his 6 fights in the UFC, all of the fighters except Guida were fighting for the first time in the UFC. I agree that he is pretty exciting, but he does not make me want to buy PPV. He doesn’t deserve six figures per fight.
Are Kim Couture and Jenna Jameson Huerta’s new management team? It seems to me that his demands are a bit high.
you guys bash kim couture, I don’t get it. any yoko comparisons should have ended when she got her jaw broken in the first seconds of her first fight, and fought on to a decision loss. Anyone out for money or “fame” isn’t going through all that and then going to say she can’t wait to get in thee again! I think your off base here!
The fact that after she got married to Randy and then got into mma makes the Yoko comparison even more justified. Yoko got into music after her marriage to Lennon.
yeah, I have some interests that I never had before because of my wife, and she loves football now, she didn’t before. I just think it’s sad that you guys bash someone that you don’t know and that is obviously taking mma serious!
I compaired her to Yoko Ono, I didn’t bash her. And IMO, that comparison is fair.
Then again, she wouldn’t be as high profile if she was married to someone else. Her celebrity is built on his name. Without Randy there is no Kim. I’d also be willing to bet that Randy would never be in the situation that he is in with the UFC if Kim wasn’t in the picture.
KEVIN. imho, kim couture is the single most reason randy is in the predicament that he is in now (besides randy himself). at 1rst i though it was his “scumbag hollywood agent” i dont know this for a fact. it is jst my gut instinct. women have a way of making men do thing they wouldnt normally do. just like drugs and alcohol. lol.
Women are far more dangerous than drugs and alcohol.
Correcto! That’s because women have minds of their own, LOL!
There is nothing more dangerous than a woman that thinks!
Jeff, they’re FAR more addictive, too.
I also think the Yoko comparison is accurate. That being said, she is a tough chick. I gained a lot of respect for her after she continued fighting for 3 rounds with half her face dangling around,
lmao! Good one.
New Manager. Sports agents are just as sleazy as lawyers.
Most are just lawyers.
..and sleazier (sp) than lawyers.
Give him sherk as punishment!
This fight with florian literally impacts how much he will be worth come renegotiations If huerta wins this fight he could easily cash in on 6 figures with another promotion but it wont be a long term deal because other than the UFC the other promotions dont even know if they will exist a year from now
So huerta has to look at it from a real perspective yeah I can get a nice payday with some one else but then what. I beleive huerta knows this and is just playing hard ball to set up the best posible deal he can get.
It’ll be very interesting to see what Dana says this weekend. You know someone is going to ask him.
This guy is on a 15 or 16 fight win streak against sub par fighters other than Clay and he thinks he’s up there. he reminds me of Fitch he is on 16 fight winning streak with sub par fighter yeah I give him Alves win and barely winning over Diego and he thinks he’s the man. I hope both of these guys get smacked around by GSP and Florian.
how does jon fitch think he’s “the man”? from everything i’ve seen of him hes a really humble, nice guy. and hes unbeaten in the ufc against the man who everybody is claiming all of a sudden can beat gsp (alves) and a highly regarded diego sanchez. i think thats a pretty big deal. and where does fitch come into this at all? the article is about huerta
Fitch comes into this cause he has fought second tier fighters and put together a winning streak similar to huerta. I am just drawing a comparison and now they are both going down.
If he beats Ken Flo he deserves it, if not trash can him
Even if he beats kenny, no one at lightweight is worth more than BJ! NO ONE!
I think everyone forgot who was the first MMA fighter featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And why would they have chose him? exciting fights, dont forget the brawl with a lil bad a%% named leonard garcia. Boxing would’nt be what it is today with out mexican fighters, so in perspective they are bringing the same thinking to MMA.
It was a good shot and he had a good story to back it up- nothing more, nothing less.
Garcia now fights at 145, which is his proper weight class. Huerta couldn’t put him away despite a large size advantage. I’m not saying that he’s not a good fighter, but why should he be paid more than a PROVEN fighter who’s currently a champ, BJ Penn.
Wouldn’t that contract be more lucrative than GSP’s? I think that he deserves to be paid well, but don’t let your ego cloud your judgement.
Roger is delusional if he thinks he is worth a six-figure contract plus PPV buys. He has no star power.
I think 40/40 or 50/50 is more than sufficient for now, but no ppv buys. BJ, GSP and Silva don’t have ppv buys and they are in the top 4 p4p in world. Asking for ppv buys is absurd. This new agent will end his career.
He definitely has star quality. It’s just the b1tchin’ part that bothers me…
If he beats Florian then hell give the man whatever he wants.