Was Roger Huerta as famous as Conor?

[Ogata]

I remember back in the day, everyone I knew used to talk about Roger Huerta and how big of a superstar he was and all the chicks were raving about his looks. I checked his record and it was similar to Conor in terms of he had one loss and a giant winning streak until he fought Kenny Florian. Then he lost to Gray Maynard. With two decision losses he was cut from the UFC.

Then he had 7 matches only winning 2 and the 5 matches were he got brutally KOed/subbed/injured. Curious to know what went wrong? I mean he was battle tested being able to beat Clay Guida who was an unstoppable blanket at the time and a win against Leonard Garcia was pretty impressive as well!

So how can someone who was super popular just disappear from the face of the MMA? If Conor loses bunch of fights, would he also be forgotten or has he immortalized himself in the memories of MMA fans?

 

[Wizzlebiz]

Heurta was the man.


Until he wasnt

 

[Space]

For about 15 minutes, with that SI cover.

 

[AWKWARD]

Heurta was the man.


Until he wasnt - Kenny Florian

 

[AC1D1K]

Even with the SI cover I don't think he has touched conor level of popularity.

 

[yekmurat]

Not even close

 

[Darwinambrosius]

He wasn't overly talented or charismatic but he was handsome. Imagine PVZ having a bad year or two. He wasn't popular so much as marketable.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

 

[Sgt Smith]

Huerta broke some ground with that SI cover, but no where near as popular and known as Conor.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

Till he balded too quick.

 

[BokaBokte]

Till he balded too quick.

Source?

 

[Darwinambrosius]

Till he balded too quick.

Rockhold is next.

 

[GangstaBoogie]

Heurta was the man.


Until he wasnt

There is no better way to describe Huerta's career. I loved Roger for some reason, really wish he had time as a champion.

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

If I'm remembering right, soon after the SI cover came out he bolted MMA for a bit to try to be an actor or something since everyone said he was hot, it didn't work out, and he was never the same fighter.

 

[LouisBolanos]

The standards for "MMA superstar" was different back then. Loads of hyperbole.

 

[FeedaBusaCarrot]

Is that a serious question? Obviously not even close. It's hard to gauge because his success and popularity is so recent, but few mma fighters ever were as famous as Conor is now. Ronda is the only one I can say for sure. Brock was already famous from WWE so he doesn't really count. Was Tito ever as big as Conor? Chuck Liddel? Randy Couture? GSP? Jon Jones? Anderson Silva? Maybe not but they were all a much bigger deal than Roger Huerta. He probably isn't even top 20. Maybe he was a bigger deal in socal since he's from LA but nobody knew who he was in the midwest, you can rest assured on that one.

 

[Medical Marijuana Man]

That Guida fight is still one of the craziest fights I've ever seen live. It still holds up too.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

Den he got hiz balding head kicked like a fuckin soccer ball

 

[TheRassler]

wasn't he dating Arianny too?

 

[Kyler Ruxin]

Den he got hiz balding head kicked like a fuckin soccer ball

that was fucking brutal