Roger Huerta To Test The Market As A Free Agent

That's the word according to Sherdog:

"We’re free to negotiate with other organizations now, but the UFC has the right to match (any offer)," Huerta’s manager, Jeff Clark, of NCFC Management told Sherdog.com on Monday.

Standard UFC contracts include a clause that allows the promotion to match any offer made by a rival promotion for up to one year.

When asked if he and the fighter had started negotiations with the UFC, Strikeforce, and other promotions, Clark answered that, "we’ve had a lot of interest from different parties." Clark would not elaborate further.

Huerta speaks on his goals if he re-signs withe the UFC, and also gives his thoughts on the recent Strikeforce show:

"I think two good fights would put me back in the mix for title contention," he said. "I think my two losses came to two really good guys and they were both by decision, the last one being a split decision that could have gone either way. Kenny became the number-one contender and Gray could easily become that as well." 

"It would be up to them," said Huerta, "but I’d definitely like to fight a top-caliber fighter like (Shinya) Aoki, (interim champion Gilbert) Melendez, or (champion Josh) Thomson. Obviously, I’d have to earn my stripes in that organization, if I went there, but any of those fights would be amazing."

Huerta's in an interesting situation here.  The UFC put him in a Spike TV main event against Gray Maynard after he had been on the shelf for over a year after losing to Kenny Florian at UFC 87.  He got a great ovation before and after that event even though he lost.  So it's clear that fans like to see him fight, as he almost always delivers exciting action in wins and losses.  However, he has suffered back to back losses against former #1 contender Kenny Florian, and potential #1 contender Gray Maynard.  I understand that Bellator FC is also in the mix as they are targeting that Hispanic market hard, as they have signed that new tv deal we spoke about a while back.  So it'll be interesting to see what type of interest he'll be able to garner.  It's obvious he wouldn't mind going to Strikeforce for some of those potential match ups.  So we'll have to stay tuned to see where he ends up.