Should Roger Huerta be punished for participating in street fight?
by Matt Bishop on Aug 5, 2010 8:01 AM EDT
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TMZ.com broke the news Wednesday of Bellator lightweight Roger Huerta's involvement in a street fight in Austin, Texas last weekend. His involvement came once a woman was punched in the back of the head, says TMZ.
Here is TMZ's account of the situation:
Once Huerta sees the woman collapse to the ground -- he instantly tries to confront the attacker saying, "You just punched a f**kin' girl."
Moments later, Huerta takes off his shirt ... slams his hat to the ground ... and rushes after the man.
Chaos ensues and people scramble after the fighters, blocking the camera -- but seconds later ... a shirtless Huerta can be seen finishing his attack on the other man ... who is sprawled out on the street.
People rush in to aid the bloody man on the ground -- who eventually gets off the pavement -- as Huerta walks away from the battle ground.
The question must be asked: Should Bellator punish Huerta for his involvement in the fight?
The National Football League has its "personal conduct policy" which states: "Engaging in violent and/or criminal activity is unacceptable and constitutes conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League. Such conduct alienates the fans on whom the success of the League depends and has negative and sometimes tragic consequences for both the victim and the perpetrator."
Now, don't get me wrong, I think Huerta did the right thing on general principle. But since this wasn't self defense and Huerta, by all accounts, went after the man, it opens up the question of whether or not Huerta should face punishment from Bellator for participating in such actions.
Huerta put himself in that situation and it will be interesting to see if a) law enforcement officials in Austin, Texas bring up charges on him and b) If Bellator has the contractual power to punish him, will they?
As a professional mixed martial artist, Huerta is trained with skills that could potentially kill people. And as we know, any fight can turn deadly quickly. From the video, someone, presumably a friend of Huerta's, comes running over to him as he takes his shirt off yelling "Roger! Roger!" obviously trying to stop him. Then Huerta takes off flying after the man after it appeared another person tried to get to him.
Regardless of motivation, Huerta, as a professional, has to know better than to partake in things like this. It's clear seeing a defenseless woman get hit set him off, and judging by his manager's comments to TMZ ("I have not spoken to Roger yet about this incident, but I can say that it's in his nature to be very protective of women."), it seems clear there is some sort of history as it pertains to situations like this.
As a man, Huerta stood up for what he believed in and took vigilante action that he deemed appropriate. Although I find it difficult to commend street violence, he was taking a stand against someone who hit a defenseless woman and took action that nearly every one of us would contemplate doing. However, as a professional, Huerta's actions need to be looked at seriously and the potential consequences need to be weighed.
I honestly don't know what the correct and prudent action is here. This is such a different situation that toes many different lines. UFC president Dana White probably said it best when he told TMZ, "In no way do I condone street fighting, but when a guy puts his hands on a woman he deserves to be knocked the f*ck out. Good for Roger."
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He beta down a guy that not only punched a girl
but SUCKER PUNCHED her.
IMO nothing should happen to him. But w/ todays politics I’m sure someone will spin this into making the original assailant the victim and Huerta will probably be punished in some way.
@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
In fighting the guy, he did nothing wrong and should get no punishment for the actual fight.
Where he messed up is stomping on the grounded guy. Once the guy is on the ground the fight is over anything after that is excessive and on the grounds for prosecution.
Good luck to him he did the right thing by standing up, but he did the wrong thing by not stopping.
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Huerta for President!
Seriously, he should be awarded. That dude got what he deserved. If anyone should be brought up on charges, it’s that idiot. I hope he learned a valuable lesson – one of the most basic – never hit a girl.
People who watch the video need to watch very closely.
Roger could definitly knock a big mofo like that out in 15 seconds, but i doubt he could knock the guy out, run back and get his shirt, and run back and kick the guy when hes down in 15 seconds. The guy that kicks him at the end has a shirt on and you can even see that in the damn picture that everyone is posting of it. Throughout this entire video, there is no proof that he ever did anything but chase after the guy.
Does Bellator even have such a policy?
If they don’t, there’s not much they can do in any fairness. I don’t think that fighters should go around stomping on dudes, but if they don’t have some existing policy in place for these kinds of shenanigans, it wouldn’t really be fair to spring it on him. I say let the fuzz do their job, and if he misses a fight because of jail time or probation, it’s on him.
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Dude who hit the girl got what was coming to him. Huerta knew what he was doing and by virtue of the necessity of the law applying to everyone equally (with the creepy diplomat guy from Lethal Weapon 2 being the exception) I won’t feel all that sorry for him if he faces legal consequences.
He will have to make do with the words of praise and satisfaction of standing up for his ideals. Hope he thinks it was worth it – I do.
"I don't care, hit him with your groin!"
Can't stomp on a guy on the pavement even if he is a chode
I think it is great that Roger beat that clown up for hitting a girl. Not only did he hit a girl he did it from behind. Why did he do that? Who cares it is never right. So it is great Roger Huerta was there and justice was served.
However, after Roger chased this jerk down and dropped him he stomped on his head perhaps a few times on the pavement. That guy did not get up for quite a while.
I myself got in trouble with the law for beating up a man for hitting a child 4 years ago. The judge told me there is a difference between defending yourself and others and assulting someone. He told me I crossed that line because I hit the guy after I had dropped him. In the end I got off easy because of the situation and my clean record.
Roger though is a professional fighter and probably seriously injured this guy. Hopefully the guy he beat down will not press charges because if it becomes known who he is he will forever be scorned by all.
And I would bet money, given the mitigating circustances and the situation
Not a damn thing will happen to Roger.
The guy who stomped was NOT Roger Huerta.
Do you people reallly think he knocked the guy out, then ran BACK to get his grey shirt, ran back to the dude on the ground THEN stomped the guy? All in about 20 seconds. No, the guy who stomped the dude on the ground was the guy who ran out of no where trying to blindside the black man right before Roger started chasing the guy. Look closely. All Roger did, was most likely hit the guy once or twice and it was lights out.
if
he kerbstomped your man, i hope he sees jail time.
not a fan of vigilantes either tbh, there’s a reason why we have law enforcement, to enforce the fucking law but it is what it is… last time i checked Law of the Jungle wasn’t the prevailing guiding force for american states but who am i….
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." ~ Roddy Piper
by RearNakedPoke on Aug 5, 2010 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions
violence
Roger is one of my fav fighters. That being said I that some action should b taking aginst roger. The reason I say that is for what we have thanks to tmz. The guy hit a women no excuse for that the law should handle it. When roger came out he became an agressor for no reason to become one. I feel that unless roger was involed with the women he should not of attacked the man. He was not provoked by him if u look roger came out and provoked the man. If I was that guy yes he should b n trouble. But I would press charges and sue roger. I know a lot of people will not like this but one act of violence should not follow with another. Look how wars start.
by bradleytherainbow on Aug 5, 2010 1:33 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Good luck with that lawsuit......
Roger is one of my fav fighters. That being said I that some action should b taking aginst roger. The reason I say that is for what we have thanks to tmz. The guy hit a women no excuse for that the law should handle it. When roger came out he became an agressor for no reason to become one. I feel that unless roger was involed with the women he should not of attacked the man. He was not provoked by him if u look roger came out and provoked the man. If I was that guy yes he should b n trouble. But I would press charges and sue roger. I know a lot of people will not like this but one act of violence should not follow with another. Look how wars start.
The dude took his shirt off and squared off with Roger, more or less looked like mutual combat to me, so I dont see how he can sue Roger for being stupid. As for the law, well there is legal and there is just. From what I saw, Justice was served.
Common Law
is where precedent is set, you start saying its fine in one instance and next thing you know precedent has been set for every fucker in the land to throw down when his morals are aggrieved. how do you ploice that then?
no. you don’t let it evolve to that and you uphold the laws that were made in the first place to govern the people, if they were good enough at time of writing they’re good enough now. If not, vote to change. vigilantism is one step to anarchy…
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." ~ Roddy Piper
by RearNakedPoke on Aug 5, 2010 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Trust me, wrist slap at most
The “victim” KO’d a girl from behind. If a jury sees that…….doesnt make a crap what the law is, they will let Roger leave the Courthouse a free man. Charged is MILES away from convicted.
Do I think guys should get stomped (btw, that was not a curb stomp, was really just a friendly nudge)? No, have I ever given a fellow a little stomp who got into a tussle on the street? Yes. But he wanted to fight, so……he got what he asked for. Just like Roger’s dance partner got.
He head stomped him. There’s your proper terminology. It’s cheap, it’s cowardly and it’s wholly unnecessary. As such, I will agree to differ on how a w ould be jury would view the severity of his actions but it seems like a moot point anyway because no one bothered filing a complaint which is a damning indictment of Texan society.
Not sure what you were hoping I’d take from your final paragraph. Nonetheless it’s not too dissimilar to what I took from Rogers actions. Not sure what you’ve done to be proud of.
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." ~ Roddy Piper
by RearNakedPoke on Aug 7, 2010 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Not proud, I think you are missing the point
but the fellow who got it from me, started a fight with me, hit me first and was pretty aggressive and beligerant to alot of folks before me. Was years ago, and not the best judgement (me giving him the boot after I put his lights out), but the fellow begged for a bad end to his night. He got it . I dont think we all need to lose all our sleep at night if guys who start fights, look for fights and get into alot of fights come up on the sad end of a fight from time to time. I dont think society will break down from it. That is what you should take from it.
I also think, since there was no complaint filed by the guy who got stomped
You have a good read as to how he feels a jury would look at it, a woman beater getting his ass kicked and them complaining about it…………….
in regards to your own case my apologies, i misinterrupted what you were saying.
No one bothered filing a complaint which is a damning indictment of Texan society.
It goes without saying I was expecting the fellow in question would file anything for the obvious reason you pointed out but if I had witnessed that first hand I would have called the law on both accounts. We as a society our individuals and as such everyone will have a different perspective.
I know quite recently in Ireland of a young man who was head stomped to an early grave. Now I don’t know did he go looking for it and find it or was he a complete misfortunate. But as a human first and foremost and secondly a Catholic i can tell you I wouldn’t wish it on any other human. I find it repulsive.
It may be cliched, but it’s apt, two wrongs don’t make a right. We’ll agree to differ. :)
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." ~ Roddy Piper
by RearNakedPoke on Aug 7, 2010 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Again, you are missing my stance
I dont think it was right. I just dont see any glaring breakdown of the order of things when a very large woman beater gets one boot in the noggin from a much smaller guy.
As for a third party calling the law, well the police still cant do much without a victim in a complaint like this. So no matter how many folks tell the police without a victim, its not like they can do too much. I have no doubts they showed up, and I have no doubts Roger and his dance partner were elsewhere.
Now, had Roger stomped him while he was out (the guy was not all the way out), truely curb stomped him (the mouth on the curb and stomp the back of the head/neck) or repeatedly kicked him in the head while the guy was down, I would be more concerned with how it went. But one boot to the noggin, for a large guy who sucker punches women….like I said I am not going to lose any sleep over it, I wont throw a party either though.
lol at me keep on missing
alright dude, i hear ya…the world would be strange if we were all the same :) enjoy the fights later!
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum." ~ Roddy Piper
by RearNakedPoke on Aug 7, 2010 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions
you too
I just didnt want to leave it that I think every dispute needs to end with guys fighting to the death in the street. I was simply saying, in this case, Justice was served (woman beater got KO’d, nothing more) and the world wont sink to anarchy tomorrow.
Roger actually has a little room to work here. The potential charge that Roger could be facing would be battery (possible aggravated battery, depending on Texas law). Since there’s video, he obviously can claim it wasn’t him. The only real defense he has is self-defense (which includes “defense of others”). Where it gets fuzzy is that under self defense, you’re only allowed to use the same amount of force as is being used against you or the person you’re defending. At the extremes this is pretty clear: you can’t kill someone unless they are clearly trying to kill you; you can’t use any form of weapon unless the other person is using a weapon, etc. As you move away from those extremes, it gets a little more subjective, which would ultimately be a question for a jury. There is where Roger would have a little wiggle room because he was clearly defending someone. The question is whether he would be found to have used excessive force. As I’m sure you’re all thinking, that head-stomp picture doesn’t exactly help but, like I said, he does have a little wiggle room if charges are brought against him.
Along these same lines, here’s a little tip for everyone: If you ever get into a fight and want to avoid getting in too much trouble: claim self defense or defense of others. And for it to work, you need to make sure the circumstances can back up your claim. This means you shouldn’t ever go out and start a fight. However, if someone is in the process of attacking you, you can defend yourself. Your best bet is to end it quickly and avoid stupid things like stomping the would-be attacker’s head after you’ve dropped him.
(Insert obligatory disclaimer that this is not intended to be legal advice and should not be considered as such.)
Right now Roger is my hero!!
I mean that dude really deserved a good f*****g stomp to the head…
Just to come up from behinde and throw everything into a punch at a girl who’s half your size means you just bought yourself a ticket to a good ol’ head stomp.
Also, we have no idea what this guy said or did to Roger when the camera wasn’t filming them (from the time that Roger is wearing clothes until he’s half naked : )
One thing that really makes me laugh about the video though is when that big dude starts to run, as if he just realised who he was up against when he saw Roger’s tattoo’s:
“God damn, it’s that sexy sports illustrated guy!!! NOW I’M DEAD!!” Hahaha…
No, but seriously, I don’t think Roger should get punished in any way. That guy has probably done stuff like that to numerous of girls before and gotten away with it so he really had it coming.
by Daniel Gustafsson on Aug 6, 2010 5:36 AM EDT reply actions
Your name sounds very Swedish
Can it really be so? Welcome to the site anyhow :)
"I don't care, hit him with your groin!"
by 3PA on Aug 6, 2010 5:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Did somebody say SWEDISH?
You know what's really fun? Not being a raving lunatic. Give it a try some time, you might just like it!
Live previews and reviews of all major fights! LightsOutRadio.com
Oh haha. I have never been Bork’d before in the history of the internet lol
"I don't care, hit him with your groin!"
by 3PA on Aug 7, 2010 6:55 AM EDT up reply actions
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