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[2mcgrath]

Roger Huerta had a very successful 2007, going 5-0, capped off by his submission win over Clay Guida this past weekend at the Ultimate Fighter Finale. But, according to the lightweight phenom it may be the better part of 8 months before fans see him fight again.

In an interview with MMAWeekly Radio, Huerta stated that he was happy with his performance but feels there are still improvements that can be made.

“We really worked on a lot of wrestling and now I know I need to go back into that and work defending those takedowns,” Huerta stated. “It felt really good on my feet, and I knew that he was winning the wrestling and I was winning the stand-up.”

Despite any hiccups Huerta experienced in the bout with Guida, the end result was obviously pleasing, pulling off a rear naked choke in the third and final round to get the victory.

“You can only fool yourself if you’re like ‘I’m winning this fight,’ Huerta said about his mindset entering the final session. “I’m my worst critic, going into the third round I knew that the first round was close and I lost the second round and I really wanted to seal the deal and finish him off for sure in the third round.”

While many fans were expecting Huerta to make another quick comeback to the Octagon to potentially face other lightweight contenders like Frankie Edgar or Kenny Florian, the Texas based fighter is ready to relax and take some much needed time off.

“I’m not fighting for 6, 7, 8 months,” said Huerta. “I did everything I could this year, I tried to keep helping promote the sport, keep making it grow, but I think I didn’t get a lot of R&R. I trained through Thanksgiving for this fight, I didn’t even go home to Texas to spend time with my family.”

“I think I’m going to take some time off. You know the truth is I need to finish school too. I fought 5 times this year and I think that’s the most anybody’s ever done in the UFC and I think I’m going to take some time off.”

Only a few classes away from a bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Huerta is not only focused on his fighting career but his future away from the UFC.

Prior to his fight with Clay Guida, many critics were harsh when speaking of Roger Huerta calling him overrated and waiting for Guida to expose him, but he answered those questions with one emphatic answer, finishing his opponent in impressive fashion.

“I believe all the haters keep hating, and everybody else that doesn’t want to believe, believe me if you’re not going to like me for what I can do in there that’s your deal,” Huerta said. “I’ll tell you this much. I’ll never give up, I’ll always keep giving it my best, and I’ll fight my heart out.”

With the huge win over Guida behind him, Huerta will take his time off and spend the holidays with his family in Texas.


source:mmaweekly

doesnt look like we will see him for a pretty good while

[AngryJohnny]

Good to see he's calling it straight in terms of room for improvement. I hope he's not off for longer than 6 months, but the dude deserves some R&R for sure.
For some reason I thought he had finished school already - I know he was close before he even made his UFC debut. In any case, I agree - smart decision on finishing it out.

[Supe]

Good read. Got to love Roger. Hes a smart classy guy that can fuckin scrap. I hope he doesnt take 8 months off....6 months max. Doesnt want to lose all the steam hes generate and get pushed back in the title hunt. Id say fight one time in May then get a title shot in early fall 08 if he wins.

REST Huerta

[2mcgrath]

who do you guys think he will be fighting when he comes back?im assuming a fight with ken flo

[rivethead]

Originally Posted by Supe

Good read. Got to love Roger. Hes a smart classy guy that can fuckin scrap. I hope he doesnt take 8 months off....6 months max. Doesnt want to lose all the steam hes generate and get pushed back in the title hunt. Id say fight one time in May then get a title shot in early fall 08 if he wins.

REST Huerta

I think his title hunt would be short lived if he doesn't take the time to develop TDD as he's planned. I would hate to see Sherk shoot and sleep on him for 4 rounds, and he would at this point.

I really like Roger, I'm glad he's finishing school.

rh

[Gmunit]

LOL, if he doesn't fight in 8 months he should drop in the ranks IMHO (j/k)


he does deserve a layoff, but don't think he realizes how long 8 months is

[Dr. MMA]

Originally Posted by rivethead

I think his title hunt would be short lived if he doesn't take the time to develop TDD as he's planned. I would hate to see Sherk shoot and sleep on him for 4 rounds, and he would at this point.

rh

sherk wouldnt sleep on him for 4 rounds, he would just keep transitioning back and forth to half guard, side, full mount, back and so on ... master transitioner

[mulefloyd]

Actually this is good.

I think there are 3 fighters who deserve to be ranked on a tier just below BJ/Daddy/Sherk and that's Huerta/Florian/Edgar. Now we can see if KenFlo has figured out how to handle a dominant wrestler.

[Ubermensch]

I think it is a good thing for him I just hope he doesn't disappear in peoples minds you know how fickle us MMA fans can be.

[kamikaze145]

He wont be gone for eight months. He will finish school which by the sounds of it will take one semester and then he will fight again IMO. I would say 6 months.