September 29, 2011- After weeks of speculation concerning his next bout, it appears that the “El Matador” Roger Huerta has confirmed via his Twitter account that he will indeed be taking on fellow UFC veteran War Machine (formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver) at the inaugural Ultimate Warrrior Fighting (UWF 1) show scheduled for November 26th at the Pharr Events Center.
This planned welterweight bout follows an unsuccessful stint at 155 in Bellator that left him with a 1-2 record in the organization (losses to Eddie Alvarez, Pat Curran) and 1-4 overall in his last five fights after leaving the UFC on the heels of back-to-back losses to UFC 136 title contenders Gray Maynard and Kenny Florian.
Despite his recent run of bad luck against top opponents, one can never discount the fact that Huerta is only 28 year old and has beaten guys like Clay Guilda, Alberto Crane, and Leonard Garcia. Given his conditioning and a renewed sense of focus, its highly conceivable that he could easily step back into to top form.
“I’m at that point where as soon as the bell rings I’m going back to my old style where I come at guys 100 miles an hour, basically non stop,” Roger told James Goyder of MMAMania in a recent interview. “The mentality is to take these guys to the deep end and drown them. I can still have the same strength at 170 lbs but I will have more speed’.”
Heading into this comeback fight, Roger will be fighting in front of what should be a “hometown” crowd – not just because he’s from Texas, but specifically from the Rio Grande Valley as well. Roger lived in both places prior to moving his training camps across the Pacific to Thailand where he’s currently preparing for this bout alongside Phuket Top Team.
As for his opponent, War Machine will also be continuing a comeback of his own after being released from jail this past July after spending a year incarcerated behind bars. Looking to stay out of troule after his release, War Machine has since thrown himself into traning in order to resume his once promising career.
Certainly lots at stake for both men in what could be a very intriguing fight.
The rest of the card for this inaugural event contains both tested veterans and promising newcomers to the Texas MMA scene.
Leading the way for the vets is West Texas mainstay Eric ‘Bighead’ Davila, the head trainer for the aptly-named Bighead MMA gym out in Lubbock.. Aside from training students like Joseph Sandoval (who makes his MMA debut this weekend), Eric was also last knocking UFC-vet Brock Larson’s block off with a 7-second KO out in Minnesota this past July Prior to that bout, he’s beaten Alex Cisne, Pete Spratt, and Anselmo Martinez respectively. He’ll look to continue his winning ways on this one against another UFC-vet in Dave Menne.
Also on the card is Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez, a Strikeforce, EliteXC, and Bellator vet who last won over Brazilian Marlos Matias this past April at KOK 10. A training partner to UFC 135 champ Dominick Cruz, Nick “The Ghost” also holds a win over TUF 12 contestant Dustin Neace. He’ll be looking for his second win a row against DJ Fuentes.
Also worthy of mention is a clash of promising young Texas fighters in Arsenal BJJ’s Carlos Diego Ferreira taking on the Guy Mezger-trained Sean “Black Magik” Spencer.
UWF 1 certainly looks interesting so far. Here’s the full card as of now. More on this event as it develops.
UWF 1 – Tentative Fight Card
► Roger Huerta (21-5-1) vs. War Machine (11-4)
Co-Main Event
► Eric “Bighead” Davila (20-10) vs. Dave Menne (44-16-2)
► DJ Fuentes (8-7) vs. Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez (17-9)
► Cyrus Washington (0-2) vs. Marcelo Lumakang (5-6)
► Lenny Wheeler (4-2)vs. Andrew Garza (6-2)
► Carlos Diego Ferreira (2-0) vs. Sean Spencer (6-1)
► Juan Leija (0-1) vs. Robert Garcia (1-0)
* Card subject to change without prior notice.
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