The once (and future?) crown Prince of Lightweights: Roger Huerta is returning to the streets that nearly destroyed him
If you pitched Roger Huerta’s life story to a Hollywood producer, he’d likely be given a polite dismissal that would turn into condescension once he left the room.
It’s a story about a kid from the streets, abandoned by addict parents who leave him homeless and alone before he even htis puberty. Then he’s discovered and brought along as an amateur wrestler, leading to an ascent that culminates in him becoming the first MMA fighter to ever grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. All the attention and fame thrust upon him at such a young age creates distractions and overconfidence. While being considered for title opportunities, he openly talks about leaving fighting to pursue an acting career. Then he becomes the first fighter to ever voluntarily jump from the UFC to the upstart Bellator fighting promotion.
Once there, the man once considered the #2 Lightweight in the world has his mind and body obliterated by the promotion’s champion, a relative unknown named Eddie Alvarez. While recovering from his injuries in the hospital, he has an epiphany and takes a spiritual journey to Thailand that leads to him rediscovering himself and finding his new purpose in life. Cue the comeback fight, taking place in the town whose streets he once slept on; the place that nearly killed him serving as the birthing ground for the resurging fighter.
It’s too much, and you’d probably get called a hack.
And yet there he is, and here we are.
MMAFighting.com’s Mike Chiapetta has the story of Huerta’s comeback and where the former UFC Lightweight that once adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated has been:
As he explored Thailand and a different way of life, he began to think about the route his life had taken. He had a famously difficult childhood, abandoned by his parents, homeless by the sixth grade. He made it through high school, moved on to college, and was quickly thrust into the MMA spotlight in the UFC. He became a Sports Illustrated cover boy at the age of 24. It was all quite dizzying, and by the time he left the UFC for Bellator, he was struggling with burnout and self-doubt.
“You could say that i was going crazy, but I was trying to understand things,” he said.