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Roger Huerta says he still has a lot of fight left in him.
The former UFC lightweight is officially bound for Bellator Fighting Championships and joins its season-two lightweight tournament with a chip on his shoulder.
"I've fought my whole life to get to where I am today, and this is a point where I honestly believe this is like a second chance for me," Huerta (20-3-1 MMA, 0-0 Bellator) said during a video press conference announcing his new Bellator contract.
Huerta vies for the right to face current lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez; an eight-man tournament that kicks off on April 8 in Chicago will determine a challenger for the season-one tourney winner.
After he sat out much of the previous two years and contemplated a move from fighting to acting, Huerta said he's ready to dedicate himself to his true passion.
"My passion's in fighting," he said. "This is what I've been doing since, I think, the day I was born."
Bellator's tournament provides the perfect format for him to jump head-first back into the fight game.
"I've got to give the fighters my best because anything can happen in this tournament, anything can happen in the sport of mixed martial arts," said Huerta, who makes his promotional debut April 8 at Bellator 13 against an opponent to be named later this week. "It has my attention 100 percent."
It appeared Huerta's attention was elsewhere when he turned down a new UFC contract this past January to pursue opportunities in acting and modeling. He struck up a friendship with actor Mickey Rourke, studied with a private coach, and appeared to be on the path to a career in film.
Huerta was unhappy with the terms of his UFC contract and wanted to find a better deal on the open market. Huerta, though, said his choice to act wasn't prompted by discontentment with his former promotion.
"It was the career change at the time, where I wanted to pursue something else, which was acting," he said. "It's something that fulfills me, and I was really intrigued by it at that moment."
That intrigue, however, faded when he lost to Gray Maynard in his most recent performance at UFC Fight Night 19 this past September. Huerta almost completely shut out the outside world to prepare for the fight but fell short on points when all was said and done.
Huerta said Maynard's nearly successful third-round kimura awoke his competitive fire.
"I left with a sour taste in my mouth and a chip on my shoulder, where it was like he had that and I still wanted to get mine," Huerta said. "That kind of hurt. There wasn't enough time left at the end of that round where I could have done something to retaliate."
Huerta and his manager, Jeff Clark, fielded interest from several promotions after the exclusive matching period in his UFC contract ended this past November. He earned his formal release from the Las Vegas-based promotion last week, which opened the door to sign with Bellator.
It's one of the Chicago-based promotion's biggest acquisitions to date.
And while season two's lightweight competitors don't have his starpower, Huerta said it would be a mistake for fans to think he's been given an easy ticket to a title shot.
"Just because they're unknown doesn't mean that they're not good," he said. "They're going to be good. These are young, hungry fighters, and it just helps the sport grow. I want the best of out of them, and they're going to get the best out of me."
With three potential fights spread out over April, May and June – Bellator tries to give 30 days between each tournament bracket – Huerta said he's in for a "gruesome" summer. But he's more than game to run the gauntlet for a shot at Alvarez.
"Going through this mountain in this tournament, you're going to see me fight three times," Huerta said. "I guarantee that. You will see that fight against Eddie, and that's going to be awesome, too."
If he's victorious, though, Huerta will have up to three months to recuperate for a potential title fight, which would take place later this year during Bellator's third season. And he could score up to $100,000 in pocket change with a tournament title.
When he gets into the Bellator cage, he'll look to end fights as quickly as possible.
"In a tournament format, you have to go in there, take the guy out, and not get hurt," he said. "Then just continue to train and be focused because you cannot just lose track of his tournament. It's just that dangerous to do so."
Huerta got a call from Rourke on his way to Chicago for the Bellator press conference.
"He's like, 'I love you brother; go out there and get them for me,'" Huerta said. "He's excited for me, and I'm excited about all of this.
"(If) I win this title, the sky's the limit. I think my chances are good. A hungry Roger Huerta is very dangerous, and I'm very hungry right now."
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