(A man who knows the value of the right to remain silent.)

Perhaps you’ve noticed that ever since he opened his yap to complain about the UFC and money to Fight! Magazine, Roger Huerta has practically disappeared. He lost his faux-number one contender bout to Kenny Florian at UFC 87, and subsequent rebroadcasts of that event on Spike TV have had that bout removed altogether. It’s enough to make you wonder, did Roger Huerta really exist, or did we all just imagine him?

Okay, I checked on the internet and he really does exist, he’s just vanished from the UFC’s PR radar after taking his gripes public. Former foe and current WEC fighter Leonard Garcia tells MMA Rated that Huerta has no one but himself to blame:

“I think everybody writes their own ticket,” Garcia said. “The only thing I can say is don’t ever start to believe what people say about you. That’s the number one thing for me. The simple fact of the matter is that we are getting paid to do what we love. Don’t go out there and try to reach for the stars too soon.

“Any young fighters coming up, if you’re listening, don’t make that mistake (of talking about how unhappy you are to the media),” Garcia said. “You know who holds the cards: The people who are holding the shows, they call the shots and all you are there to do is fight.

“I don’t blame Roger for doing what he did. He tried to take a bullet for everybody out as far as asking for more money and doing stuff,” Garcia added. “(But) you should never talk about your boss or don’t bite the hand the feed you.”

Garcia could also have added to that list of things young fighters should not do, ‘hanging out with drug traffickers.’ Fortunately he found his way out of that situation, but as long as we’re giving advice we might as well cover all the bases.

Seriously though, Garcia’s point is a good one. Any of you young fighters out there (I assume you all get together and read Cage Potato in between training sessions), if somehow you’ve missed this up until now, allow me to spell it out for you. If you want to stay in the UFC:

1) Don’t complain publicly about how much money you’re making.
2) Don’t criticize other fighters who are more well-known or well-liked than you.
3) Don’t change your name to War Machine.

That last one pretty much applies to everyone.