The UFC Edited Roger Huerta to Promote His Fight
by Michael Rome on Aug 1, 2008 1:52 PM EDT
in MMA News
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PrintI just came across this interview with Roger Huerta at MMA Madness that everyone should check out. He addresses a lot of things, but this really caught my attention:
They put these videos on the UFC where I said the fight was going to be a "cakewalk". They f#@%ing pissed me off because what I was saying is that, COMPARED TO MY LIFE, this fight is a cakewalk. It was in no way a disrespect to Kenny, it's just with all the s@#t I've been through as a kid, fighting Kenny is a cakewalk. Anyway…when it comes down to it, it really is just a fight…it's just a fight.
This is a pretty shady tactic, because it made him look like a prick, and turned a lot of people against him.
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Eh
It’s shady, but this is so common in production. It sucks that it happened to him, but to think this is anything out of the ordinary would be a mistake.
i was
just going to say the same thing Luke. It sounds like he’s pretty unhappy with the UFC right now. He had an interview where he was talking about Keith Jardine’s pay and it sounded like he was pretty irritated with that also.
Welcome to the business of promoting a fight, Roger Huerta. If you cannot do enough on your own to hype the fight, the promoter will take it upon themselves to pick up what they perceive to be the slack.
Of course, in my case, they could have a put a gag order on Huerta, Florian, and everyone else involved in this match and I’d still be super hyped for it. I have ridiculously high hopes for this fight and I cannot wait for it.
That's a dirty thing to do...
But then again, it is a dirty business at times. Huerta and KenFlo are really 2 of the good guys in MMA. It’s a shame that they had to go out of their way to turn one of them into a heel. But why Huerta? And as far as the fight goes, they both have the tools, Florian’s are just much sharper. I used to think Florian was kind of cocky, and I didnt like it. But then I realized, THE GUY DOES EXACTLY WHAT HE SAYS HE’LL DO. And there is nothing cooler than that.
Florian needs promotion help and the UFC is giving it
The UFC, like everyone else, knows that florian & penn are the two top guys as far as skill and excitement in the lightweight division. They are feeding huerta to the wolves in order to boost florian, who for some reason, is lacking in fan appeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC told sherk that if he did another “lay and pray” against penn (like he did against florian) he wouldn’t have much of a future in UFC. No one wants to watch a fight like that. After florian destroys huerta we can all look forward to the lightweight fight of our dreams. Can you believe that florian isn’t even in the top ten in some rankings. Imagine him against Gomi! He would kick the hell out of gomi.
Nah
He passed Franca’s guard a thousand times…he broke Franca after the third round….he didn’t do THAT much damage….but it wasn’t lay n pray either.
http://tharealness.wordpress.com/
Gomi is good, very good. Florian is better.
That is my point. Florian is one of the most underrated fighter in mma right now.
I agree that Florian is underrated, but the way to fix that is not to run around overrating the hell out of him. That’s what you’re doing here, by the way.
where would you place florian?
he’s a better fighter than sherk, we saw that in the florian-sherk fight. Have you watched gomi fight? How good do you think he is?
Leban was/is a top contender for middleweight
But that’s not my point. You don’t need to beat a top contender to be a top contender. You just need to demonstrate impressive skills. Do you believe sherk is a better fighter than florian? You must like watching grass grow!
No, I don’t think Sherk or Florian are top 10. Sherk beating Kenny, and Kenny beating prospects like Joe Lauzon isn’t going to change that. I think if the UFC wasn’t so behind Florian, touting him as this LW powerhouse, you probably wouldn’t be championing his cause like this.
The only reason these guys are “prospects” (as you put it) is because florian has already beaten them. Really, they were good fighters who were dismantled by florian.
BY THE WAY. I AM A BJ FAN. The UFC was not nice to BJ as they supported Hughes to rediculaous levels.
As long as there’s Dream/Jap org and UFC and they don’t co-promote, you can speculate until your blue in the face about who’s top 10 and who isn’t. I think that due to the fact that UFC’s LW division has been somewhat off again on again during it’s history, that their LW’s get less credit then they deserve in comparison to other well established LW’s
I think that the LW division is by far the hardest to rank fighters in. Can you honestly and with a straight face say that Florian or Sherk would have no chance against Calvancante, Gomi, Aoki and the likes? Give me a break.
Oh, and to keep on subject, welcome to being in the spotlight and production 101 Roger. Better get used to it.
I really dont see why Huerta should be upset
If it’s anything the UFC needs to do, it’s promote their fights and the fighters in them.
Just like tha_realness pointed out
It’s publicity and it’s only going to make him more well known
all you gotta do is...
I'd be upset if i had to fight florian
Here’s a guy who should be ranked in the top 5 & he isn’t even in the top ten. If you beat him everyone’s like who cares. If you win everyone says ” so you beat the guy that got crushed by diego”. Look at what’s happened to everyone kenny’s destroyed. With the exception of Lauzon, who is still riding the pulver wave, everyone kenny has beat has slipped away into nothingness. After kenny destroys huerta who is gonna care about huerta.
Lauzon exposed florian’s greatest weakness—his wrestling. Florian’s jiu-jitsu more than made up for it. Anytime somebody can achieve and maintain the mount, i am very impressed.
Will beating Huerta put Florian in the top 10? Will it put him on the fast track to a title shot, or do you think they’ll put him in against Sherk again to prove his worthiness?
Also...
Does anyone think that Florian could beat B.J. Penn, and would that matchup build enough excitement to market a PPV around?
Will Florian beating Huerta put him in the top ten? The answer: No! That’s the problem the UFC is facing. Although their LW division is spectacular, their fighters still aren’t making the top ten. Florian would kick Gomi’s ass, but that doesn’t matter because we won’t be able to see it. UFC fans are still too interested in giving a nobody, like brock lesnar, the spot light. Sure lesnar will win, but true mma fans dont care.
MMA_Dude, Elite, Strikeforce, Dream, Pride and many others have also used big name, inexperienced fighters to draw fans.
Lesnar is certainly not the only one.
Bob Sapp, Kimbo, Yuji Nagata, and many others (including japenese comedians and actors) have been put on shows to garner attention and publicity.
“This is a pretty shady tactic, because it made him look like a prick, and turned a lot of people against him.”
^True.
But…
Also pretty shady was putting him against questionable, mismatched, UFC newcomers. Which ALSO turned a lot of people against him.
If he beats Florian he gets a title shot, and I will be fine with that. Outside of BJ, Florian is as good as any other LW in the UFC, so that will be a very good test for Huerta. If that happens, i see Florian becoming the LW gatekeeper.
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
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