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[Dan0]

One on One Q&A with Roger Huerta
Roger Huerta is a rising star in the UFC’s lightweight division. This Saturday, Huerta faces Clay Guida in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale. MMA Madness’ Ryan McKinnell caught up with “El Matador” last week. Here are highlights of the interview.

MMA Madness: So how’s everything going? I take it you’re up in Minnesota?

Huerta: Yes I am. I’m up in Minneapolis. I actually just bought a place up here and we just got all moved in -- but yeah, we are out here just working hard.

MMA Madness: Now, who is we? You and Dave Menne?

Huerta: Yup. We is Dave Menne, my longtime MMA coach, and Justin Hagan, my strength and conditioning coach. So we are just up here and training hard.

MMA Madness: I heard a rumor that you are back in college, or you are going back…

Huerta: No, I haven’t enrolled back yet. I’m planning on enrolling this spring after my fight with Clay if everything goes well. I do need to go back and finish though because I only have 3 credits left so…I gotta get that degree. [Laughs]

MMA Madness: Why don’t you explain the reasoning behind that whole decision? Did fighting interrupt your studies and force you to quit or what?

Huerta: I never quit, it wasn’t about quitting. I just took some time off so I could excel at something I always wanted to do and that was to be in the UFC and be the best MMA fighter I could be. So to become a full time fighter you have to dedicate your time and basically your life, if you want to be the best. So that’s kind of what ended up happening. So I had to push school to the side just for a bit. Not that I wasn’t keeping up on it -- it was never that. The only thing is that I had to concentrate full-time on MMA.

MMA Madness: Well, right on. Let’s talk about the 8th for a while. You have a match up that I personally think a lot of people will be looking forward to, with Clay Guida. What are your thoughts on the fight that night and your opponent Clay Guida?

Huerta: I really feel like it’s a good match up for sure. It’s going to be a good one for me actually, because Clay Guida brings a lot to the table. He is an aggressive fighter, he fights with a lot of heart and he has a really good chin -- he has a lot of game, good wrestler, good scrambler. In saying that, he is just a really good, well-rounded fighter. I’m the same type of fighter -- I bring a lot of energy into a fight and I’m always very persistent and I fight with a lot of heart. You know, the fight could be fight of the night or it could end quickly. No one knows for sure -- that’s why it’s a fight. I’m really looking forward to this fight. I’ve kind of been wanting a fighter who….not that my other opponents haven’t been “game” because all of those guys have been amazing, amazing fighters. A lot of people didn’t know the guys I fought because they were making their UFC debut’s or what not, but just look at their records. So people don’t understand that just because they aren’t a “name” fighter, that they’re not good. So I’m really glad to be fighting a Clay Guida so people will look at that after and say, “Hey, he’s pretty good.”

MMA Madness: Yeah, most definitely. Well, since you brought it up, let’s talk about your opponents. There are a lot of naysayer’s who are stating that you don’t deserve all the hype you have gotten -- that you haven’t fought tough competition, or maybe as tough as you should have. How do you respond to that?

Huerta: Before my debut, nobody knew who I was -- nobody knew me. Then all of a sudden everyone saw me fight and saw the style and excitement I can bring to a fight. People would say, “Oh he’s an exciting fighter but he’s got holes in his game….He’s going to get submitted by [Alberto] Crane because he‘s a world class BJJ practitioner and yada, yada, yada” and then like...I’m like, “Ok, I’m going to go to the ground with this guy, the only other American to win the World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship,” and look…he didn’t do anything to me, nothing. I mean you were there, you interviewed me…

MMA Madness: Yup.

Huerta: You saw [that] I can go wherever the fight needs to, wherever it pans out -- I’m game. I don’t ever disregard what people say because input is important. For example, my college football team is the Texas Longhorns and they have that love/hate dichotomy…same with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. You get what I’m saying? So you’re always going to have the fans that go for those guys and the people who will cheer for you. So you can never take anything personal because that is just the way things are.

MMA Madness: Right, definitely. Let’s get back to Clay and your fight on December 8. I mean, this is a free, live broadcast on SPIKE TV and you are headlining. That has got to be huge for you. Does that add any extra pressure?

Huerta: Man, I’m trying not to think about it. I’m just taking this fight like all the others -- it’s just a fight. Yeah, you’re right though, I think this does add a bit of pressure to Clay and myself. With both Clay and I, this is the first headlining of any sort, let alone on SPIKE and that kind of is like OK…..?

MMA Madness: Do you think it will affect your game at all?

Huerta: No, I don’t think so. Bottom line is I have one job and that is to keep winning and to perform the way I know I can. You’re just going to see me going balls to the wall every time and that is how I will fight every time. It doesn’t matter who it is and my main goal is to become world champion in the 155 lbs. division of the UFC and to keep that belt forever until I want to retire it. That is my goal -- all those other fighters who are in my way are just a stepping stone. It’s nothing personal, it’s just how it is -- they are a stepping stone and that’s how I feel about that.

MMA Madness: Assuming you beat Clay, where do you think that puts you in the 155 lbs. title hunt?

Huerta: I’d say it should put me right around the top….

MMA Madness: Right up at contender status?

Huerta: I’d say so. Whoever wins between Joe [Stevenson] and BJ [Penn] -- I think I should be right there after I beat Clay.

MMA Madness: If Clay was in front of you right now, what would you say to him?

Huerta: I would wish him well and good luck. I hope his training is going well and I look forward to seeing him on December 8th

MMA Madness: Let’s talk about training for a moment. So, you are up in freezing cold Minnesota….

Huerta: Oh man, your telling me!

MMA Madness: Right, so why don’t you run through a typical day of training for all of us.

Huerta: Well, I wake up. Then I bundle up! [Laughs] Then I do about a 4 ½ mile run every other morning. After that I do some core training that we do or this other circuit training. We do a lot with this thing called a “TRX”, which is basically one of those “fitness anywhere” type of deals. After all that I get to eat because that is what keeps the calories down and helps keep me lean -- that is why we do all that cardio in the morning. In the mid-afternoon I either see Dave Menne or Justin Hagan depending on the day because everything is planned out. With that said, when I work with Justin it’s on weightlifting or conditioning and with Dave it’s purely MMA -- you know, my boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, and Jiu-Jitsu -- that all goes through Dave. All the rest, what I eat, how I lift, all the conditioning stuff goes through Justin and basically I put in 6-8 hours a day.

MMA Madness: I’ve talked to a lot of fighters who say the training is harder than the actual fight -- would you agree?

Huerta: Yeah, they are very right. Actually, the training is much harder than the actual fight. Train hard to win easy.

MMA Madness: Well, Roger I think it is safe to say not a ton of people know about you outside of the cage. I mean, we know you’re training 8 hours a day up in freezing Minnesota and your 19-1 etc…but what sort of stuff do you do in your off time? How do you keep such a level head ?

Huerta: Well, for example, we just flew in my mom today so that has been real nice. She got to come up to Minnesota and I haven’t seen her much. I only got to see her two days after my last fight. So she’s up here and she plays a big part in everything I do. We just had dinner a minute ago and just having her here is special. Having her around keeps me focused. One thing I did this year also was give myself to God. I told him, “You know what? Here’s my body. Do whatever you want with it,” and ever since then it’s like he’s just been blessing me so much, ya know? I just try to stay positive basically. I watch a lot of movies and I love being outdoors for sure. I have a tendency to bike, so I get on that a lot and ride around. Not anymore obviously [laughs] because of the winter. But I just try and stay relaxed. I have a bunch of close friends from college and school that I hang out with, so they keep me focused too -- wrestling buddies.

MMA Madness: You know Roger, the lightweight division this year has made one of the biggest comebacks in MMA. A division once thought dead has been resurrected by exciting fighters and legendary matches. On the flip side, though, steroid and drug abuse has plagued the division as of late with Hermes Franca, Sean Sherk and Melvin Guillard all testing positive for banned substances. What do you think about that whole situation in general?

Huerta: Hey man, to each his own. If that’s how they want to live their life, that’s them. As far as myself, I’ll tell you this: I’m the most pure fighter you’re ever going to see. The only supplement I ever take is whey protein. Everything else you see is a lot of hard work and dedication. The only reason I never get tired is because I want it more and I train my ass off. Ask anyone. The UFC and Sherdog.com were here filming me train and you can just see how hard I work. The truth is, those who don’t put in the hard work and dedication in this sport just won’t make it. It’s as simple as that.

MMA Madness: That still has to be disappointing to you because they are representing the sport?

Huerta: Well, of course it’s disappointing. At the same time, that’s why we have the drug testing, that’s why we have the athletic commissions, etc… In every other sport you have people taking illegal substances….it is cheating. That is the bottom line -- it’s cheating. It’s awesome though that we have those rules and regulations that are in place that catch people who cheat.

MMA Madness: You know 2007 has been a real interesting year, and not just the soap opera story lines. I’ve seen you at a lot of events; when you’re not training you seem to be everywhere. So with that said, looking back on 2007 -- what were some of the moments and events that stick out in your mind?

Huerta: A fight that sticks out to me was Anderson Silva beating Rich Franklin again. And him beating Nate Marquardt -- that guy is an animal, he’s a beast. That guy is such a well-rounded fighter and I myself would like to be that one day. Same thing with Randy Couture beating Gabriel Gonzaga at 44 years old, breaking his nose and taking him to a TKO -- just amazing. Those accomplishments and goals are what I try to reach for; they are what I want to be a part of one day. Yeah, so those are the type of guys I look out for.

MMA Madness: Right and I was in the building with you that night when Randy defended that title. Doesn’t it feel at that moment when everything is happening, that you feel part of something bigger? Something bigger than sports? Something larger than life, I guess….

Huerta: Oh my god, it does. It feels great man, it’s a different high than anyone else could possibly imagine. To me, this is my high, this is my life. I love everything about MMA and I just can’t be anymore blessed to be a part of it.

http://mmamadness.com/insight.html?newsitem_id=178

[ILJO]

Good read.

I like Huerta, he always has good fights. I dont know if hes got what it takes to beat Guida though. Guida's just so damn relentless

This should be a really good fight. Both have great cardio and love to push the pace

Guida by split decision

[Texasboyballin]

good read, Huerta is gonna get the "W"

I think Huerta is a top 5 LW in the UFC