Roger Huerta

('Okay, final offer. You take me back in the UFC and I'll give you this hat that I made out of a sofa. Going once...')

Before he burns any bridges with the UFC, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson might want to take a look at the cautionary tale of Roger Huerta.  After losing what was supposed to be his last match in the UFC before running off to a land of riches and pain-free adulation in Hollywood, Huerta now says he might like to stick around and see where this fighting thing takes him.  And what caused this tremendous shift from the guy who signed a development deal with Lion’s Gate Films and has been very vocal about his displeasure with the UFC in the past?  From the sound of it, this acting plum isn’t quite as sweet as Huerta thought it would be:

“I’m still open to acting,” said Huerta. “Hopefully we get something going with that, but I’m not going to prioritize (acting) now. I’ll still prioritize fighting. If the UFC wants me back, I’d be willing to go back. …We started looking at the things we were going to do with Lion’s Gate.  We’ve looked over some roles, but nothing that I’ve wanted to sink my teeth into (yet).”

Translation: I thought doing this one cheesy role in a video game movie would lead to gigs where I co-starred with Scarlett Johansson and blew up helicopters, but instead all I got offered was a role opposite Vanessa Johansson in the sequel to “Shark in Venice.”

("Listen, Gray, if you promise to stay away from my face, I think I can hook you up with a role in my next project. We're doing a movie adaptation of 'Big Buck Hunter.' Should be hot." Photo courtesy of this set on CombatLifestyle.)

Spoiler alert: UFC Fight Night 19 is being broadcast on tape-delay in some parts of the country, so check your local listings before continuing if you want to keep your viewing experience pure. Now then, it's time to see if weed-strength can overcome cocaine-quickness, and how Roger Huerta's farewell performance will be received by the toughest critics of all — Gray Maynard's fists. Live results await you after the jump; refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you're feelin' in the comments section.

(Props: BadBoyMMA1)

Roger Huerta may have an ill-advised acting career to turn to after tomorrow night's fight against Gray Maynard, but that doesn't mean he isn't training hard for his last stand in the Octagon. In the video profile above, Huerta implies that his previous loss to Kenny Florian at UFC 87 was the result of moving away from his dependable coaching duo of Dave Menne and Justin Hagen. He certainly seems focused — though you have to wonder if Huerta should be drilling nothing but his smother-defense at this point.

Next Wednesday Gray Maynard will try to help escort Roger Huerta out of the UFC at Spike TV’s Fight Night 19.  In talking with him for an SI.com feature this week, “The Bully” expressed an unwavering desire to stay out of whatever drama may be going on between Huerta and the UFC, but he also expects to put some of his newly-developed skills on display in hopes of getting MMA fans to finally stand up and take notice of him.

When we saw you in your last fight against Jim Miller, you seemed to have really improved your boxing skills, and that surprised some people.

Yeah, I got with a coach, Gil Martinez, who helped coach [Randy] Couture.  I’ve been with him for about a year and a half now.  When I was getting prepared for [Frankie] Edgar I knew I had to get it going.  I’ve been going with him pretty much every day.  He has a small gym and he has a bunch of kids who can really box.  I’ve been going over there and doing drills and training every day.  He’s a great coach.  I was able to do a little bit against Edgar, where that fight was about half stand-up.  It’s slow to develop.  It takes time.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. We just received the above poster image in our inbox, in which Nate Diaz (who's coming off back-to-back losses to Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson) and Melvin Guillard (cokehead) appear to be headlining the next UFC Fight Night card over top lightweight contender Gray Maynard and Roger Huerta, who used to be the UFC's Great Brown Hope until he started talking out of turn. Of course, most fans are just going to be happy to see two great lightweight matchups on free TV, not realizing the passive aggressive jab of disrespect that's going on here. (Honestly, I can't wait to hear Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg's spin on why Diaz vs. Guillard is main-event-worthy.) But hey, good luck to Nate — when was the last time a fighter was given a headlining slot and a "win or go home" match on the same night?

UFC Fight Night 19 will serve as a lead-in to the premiere of Kimbo's House (aka TUF 10). Tickets to the event go on sale this week; the current lineup is after the jump.