MMAVu

Roger Huerta, the one-time UFC Hispanic poster boy will be back in action on Ultimate Fight Night 19, slated for September 16 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

Huerta has been out of action since a decision loss to Kenny Florian at UFC 87. It was during this build-up, that Huerta openly questioned the pay scale of the UFC, no doubt endearing him to Dana White. Following the fight, Huerta announced his intentions to take a hiatus from MMA to pursue acting. I would assume this endeared him even more to Dana White, after the Zuffa boys spent years building him into a big name. Huerta was the first UFC fighter to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May 2007.

Maynard on the other hand, has been steady and solid, winning 5 in a row…after his first fight after TUF 5 of course. In that fight, Maynard picked up Rob Emerson and slammed him to the mat, giving himself a DDT in the process. See the .gif below; Jake “the Snake” Roberts would have been proud.

Mmaweekly.com is reporting that Roger Huerta, the first UFC fighter to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, the fiery latino fighter whom the UFC was planning to build the Mexican fan base around, the ultra-popular lightweight contender…is about to hang up his gloves. To act, no less.

It was reported last month that Huerta had signed a 5-fight extension with the UFC, but that is apparently not the case. Had they signed, they would have NEVER gotten out of the deal, just ask Randy Couture.

Acting, is apparently now Huerta’s new priority and career path. He has one fight left on his existing UFC contract which he plans to honor, although that fight, depending on the UFC, could fall anywhere between April 2009 and April 2010. The UFC could choose to drag out his contract and basically sit him on the shelf like they did with Andrei Arlovski.

Arlovski was intent on testing the free agent waters before re-signing with the UFC, and the company basically attempted to bury him before letting him go. They sat him out for about a year, even after he had won his last two fights, and then stuck him on the undercard in a “no win” scenario against a no-name wrestler, hoping the wrestler would beat him. No such luck.

Time will tell what route they take with Huerta. If they really believe he will become an actor, they may book his last fight within a few months. If they think he’s just testing the fight market, they’ll sit him. Either way, it will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.