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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator Fighting Championships is set to announce the signing of their most high profile fighter on Monday, as MMAJunkie.com reports that UFC veteran Roger Huerta will be joining the eight man lightweight tournament for the organization's second season.
Huerta is coming off a loss to Gray Maynard last September in his final contracted UFC fight. That was his first fight in 13 months after losing to Kenny Florian at UFC 87. He turned down a contract extension in the fall of 2008 to focus on his acting career before finishing his UFC tenure against Maynard.
The MMAJunkie report states that Huerta received his official release last week from the UFC, and is now free to join Bellator. There had been rumblings in January that Huerta could wind up in Strikeforce after meeting with officials, but no contract was agreed to.
Despite the two consecutive losses, Huerta will now enter this tournament as a clear favorite. He racked up six straight wins in the UFC, including a "Fight of the Year" candidate against Clay Guida in 2007 that got him on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first MMA fighter to appear on SI's cover.
Bellator's second season begins on Thursday, April 8th, with live events airing weekly on Fox Sports Net for twelve weeks. The winner of this season's lightweight tournament will face off with Bellator season one lightweight winner, and thus Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez.
Penick's Analysis: This is a huge addition to Bellator's roster. With the first season being broadcast on television exclusively on ESPN Deportes, the organization has a large latino fan base and Huerta already has a very large latino following. His involvement with the second season gives casual fans a fighter they've already seen multiple times a reason to tune in and give the events a chance, allowing them to see the other fights and fighters that are going to make this season a highly exciting event overall in the MMA world.
Bellator is getting nothing but praise right now because they're making some great moves. They know who they are as a promotion and they've got a great model for their organization to bring a "pure sport" version of MMA to the landscape with their tournaments. The signing of Huerta in and of itself is exciting enough that you almost forget the other major possibility this brings, and that's a lightweight title showdown with Alvarez in the third season should Huerta win this tournament. That would be one of the most exciting lightweight fights not in the UFC, for sure. Let's hope we get a chance to see that fight later this year.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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