Roger Huerta signed with Bellator Fighting Championships. Of course I know that organization. Honestly, the only reason I know about it is because Eddie Alvarez won the Bellator lightweight tournament last year. Alvarez is one of my favorite fighters from watching Dream. Huerta seemed at odds with the UFC. For a while, he was it's poster boy and seemed to be fighting on every other card. He had a streak of 6 straight wins. Then he lost to Kenflo and took a year off to pursue "acting and modeling". A year later he finished-up his UFC contract in a decision loss to Gray Maynard. But kept saying he wanted back in the fight game.
Well, he apparently does want to fight. Bellator's tournament style format suits a guy like Huerta, assuming that he can go deep in the tournament. El Matador will fight 4 times within the year, if he keeps winning. Apparently, the winner of the tournament gets to face lightweight champ Alvarez. I'd love to see Huerta vs. Alvarez. Both guys have granite chins and love to throw. It's a great match-up for guys that like good 'ole fashioned brawls.So, I'm pulling for Huerta to will the tourney.
The best part is that Bellator is working out a TV deal. I think last year's tournament was only on ESPN Deportes. (Which I don't get on Directv). Ironically, the Submission of the Year was by Toby Imada in that tournament, but I only got to see it via YouTube and Inside MMA replay.
I'm all for multiple organization, formats, and champions. It helps grow the sport and keeps things interesting. Between the UFC, WEC, Dream, Sengoku, and Bellator the lightweight category has a deep talent pool. The little guys are growing MMA.
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