Roger Huerta Replaces Injured Pat Curran For Bellator 33 Against Eddie Alvarez

Added on Aug 13, 2010 by Joe Schafer in

UFC & MMA

In what could be considered a bittersweet Cinderella story, Bellator season 2 winner Pat Curran (12-3) will have to watch his title shot against lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (20-2) slip into the hands of UFC veteran Roger Huerta (21-4).

According to MMAJunkie.com, Pat Curran, a Chicago-area fighter, suffered a shoulder or arm injury during his preparation for Alvarez. Due to the setback, Curran would not be ready to return to action by the official date for Bellator 33: October 21 at the Kansas City Power & Light District in Missouri.

The original championship showdown between Curran and Alvarez was a direct result of Bellator’s first two seasons; both men winning their respective season. Alvarez, a heavy favorite, won the first season’s lightweight tournament to become the promotion’s inaugural 155lbs champion. Curran on the other hand, impressed many with a string of convincing wins over UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s teammate Mike Ricci in the first round, a surprising unanimous decision over Huerta at Bellator 17 and a split-decision victory over Tody Imada earning him a title shot with Alvarez.

Now that Curran, the current No. 1 contender, is sidelined from action, Alvarez’ title strap is safe from being up for grabs since his fight with Huerta is a non-title bout. Though the bout has yet to be finalized, inside sources from both parties are claiming that the deal is nearly done, more than likely to be announced soon.

Despite being a highly recognizable figure in mixed martial arts, Huerta has experienced a turbulent couple of years in and out of the cage–losing three of his last four matches–while attempting to jungle a career in acting along with fighting. Back in the summer of ’08, Huerta got outclassed for three rounds by UFC lightweight contender Kenny Florian.

A year later in a fight with Gray Maynard, another UFC lightweight contender, Huerta dropped a split decision in what ended his contractual obligations to the UFC. After being acquired by Bellator earlier this year and announced as a participant in season two’s lightweight tournament, the former UFC star submitted Chad Hinton and lost to Curran, putting an end to his tournament run.

Despite Huerta’s exit from the competition, he returned to the limelight for his participation in a Texas street brawl. The mayhem was captured on a cell phone and later posted by TMZ.com, showing Huerta confront a man who had sucker punched a lady from behind. Later reports revealed the man to be Rashad Bobino, a former college football player for the Texas Longhorns.

In contrast, Alvarez, who is ranked as a top 10 lightweight , is on a five fight win-streak–winning the last 10 of his 11 fights.