Kenny Florian suspicious of Roger Huerta
August 24, 2008 by Sam Caplan
In an article appearing in the Sunday edition of the Boston Herald, UFC lightweight title contender Kenny Florian stopped short of accusing Roger Huerta cheating in their Aug. 9 clash at UFC 87. However, in quotes he made to the paper, he teeters on the edge of accusing Huerta of resorting to unfair competitive tactics:
“When I had him down on the ground I thought I was going to put him away but he was pretty slippery,” Florian said. “To me, he felt suspiciously slippery. I know the difference between sweat and other things. I didn’t see him do anything (illegal), but I thought it was a little weird for me to be sliding off his back like that.”
It is definitely possible that Huerta greased himself up, however, you’d think that an official would have noticed something during the pre-cage entrance pat down? It’s also possible that Huerta was sweating a lot.
well it didnt help him any
It helped him, he didnt get choked out in the first.
Isn’t that a pretty old trick? Is it illegal? Did Kenny have that grease all over him after the match, cause I know you can feel that stuff on your skin. Hard for me to believe that Roger can get away with greasing up.
Why mention it now…especially after winning? Nothing to gain except your name once again in the world of blogs.
Forget it.
Is it possible he could have put a skin lotion on about an hour before the fight, making it undetectable to the ref, and then during the bout when he starts to sweat, would it make him really slippery? Honest question! Thoughts anybody?
I agree, why mention it? KenFlo is opening a can of suspicion in which if Huerta was using it for an advantage, he did not exploit it.
I like Florian but to call out another fighter when you do not know the facts can get you in trouble. Even though he covered his basis and saying he was not sure, it does make it a moot point.
When Diego Sanchez fought Nick Diaz I noticed an odd sheen to his sweat, looked more oily. I thought nothing of it, but Diaz said something about it to Joe Rogan, about Sanchez being really slippery. (Not technically slippery) No one seems to get pinched for “greasing up”. I also thought it funny how easily Huerta seemed to escape from awkward positions in his fight with Alberto Crane, seeing how Alberto is a black belt and Roger is not. Has Roger willingly given up his back and escaped before in a fight? Could be a strategy. Incidentally, Rich Clementi commented on Shonie Carter being “awfully slippery” (not in the technical sense) when they fought in TUF 4. All I’m saying is that if I start fighting mma I’m going to grease any time I fight someone with a black belt in mma. Otherwise I might get submitted any time I give up my back.
Huerta gives up his back quite a bit, and I don’t think he’s been choked out a single time.
Kenny’s in a tough spot here, if he truly believes Huerta felt abnormally slippery and here’s why: 1) He won the fight, so it’s easy for people to say why bring it up since you won anyway, or 2) If he had lost the fight, people would say he was just making excuses for losing.
It’s kind of a no-win situation for Ken-Flo, well, except for the fact that he’s in line for a title shot and Huerta isn’t. I will bet they probably take a pretty close look at ‘ol Roger before his next fight.
I guess any greasy mexican jokes would be poor taste.
Kenny with the subdued race angle. Privileged white boy from Boston beats up poor hard luck Mexican fighter, then celebrates his victory by making headlines about the wet and greasy back of him. Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down.
great post austin…. florian is also hispanic i beleive
What about insult to injury? Salt to the wound?
I don’t think that Roger greased himself up, I think kenny is bitter that he didn’t finish him off. Florian prides himself on finishing fights and he is just making an excuse for not delivering on his promise. What a class act, no, more like a poor sport. That’s more like it.
I think Kenny is an honest guy, and if he really thinks Huerta is greasing up then he should definitely should have spoken up about it, if only to ensure that the officials are aware of a potential problem in the future. Florian has been doing this long enough to know when something is abnormal.
Whether he should have gone to upper management rather than chucking rocks in the Boston Herald, I don’t know.
Well, being half mexican myself I can tell you that I do tend to sweat quite a bit and it doesn’t take long to be sweating from head to toe during a work out or exercise. I always get made fun of it because of it and I always have to keep a towel with me during BJJ training because the mat gets soaked! Mexicans have been working out in the sun for so many generations that we evolved to sweat more in order to keep cool.
But that being said I agree with what Marc said about applying lotion and letting it dry before the ‘pat down’. The sweat & heat would activate the lotion and if Kenny got it on him, would be wiped away with the first towel or putting on of a shirt. Interesting all around.
Yeah, Florian is Peruvian. Calling him a white boy from Boston is like calling Huerta a white boy from San Diego. Although he’s certainly from a different socio-economic background than Huerta — Florian’s father is a doctor. (Don’t know what kind.)
Interesting to see if Huerta even responds to this. I wouldn’t, unless explicitly asked about it.
Greaser
I think Kenny Florian is a smart guy and a very straight shooter. I think coming out with this assertion was to put Huerta on guard for future fights–don’t grease UP!
Is it illegal, definitely. Have you ever noticed how they sometimes apply too much vaseline to a fighter’s face, and the referee will wipe it off? Grease deflects punches to the face. And of course, when applied to the body, it deflects submission attempts.
I think Huerta is something of a self-absorbed brat. So I wouldn’t put it past him to try to get an edge against a superior fighter.
I spose Huerta is greasing himself up more now that Arianny ain’t showing him no love.
I can’t see him doing it on purpose to try to gain any sort of advantage.
He appears to be a pretty straight up dude.
Melvin Guillard greased up for his fight with Huerta.
The whole Florian family are a bunch of Duche bags…..From his wanna be fighter brother who started crap with Joe Louzan to Kenny who cant just win graciously and shut the hell up. Kenny is a great fighter but maybe he should just sit back and figure out what costume he is going to come out to for his next fight…..Hey Kenny…You are no Samuri and you are no Bruce Lee…Duche
Sounds like a valid and legitimate complaint and this isn’t the first time this has happened in MMA. Funny that someone mentions Diego Sanchez because I’ve always thought it looks like that guy rubs down with salad dressing before he comes out to fight.
Sakuraba got whooped by Akiyama and it was proven later from Pride’s locker room prep footage that Akiyama greased up before the match which prevented Sakuraba from doing all sorts of things.
Doesn’t the UFC have people supervising fighter preparations to make sure they don’t put barbed wire in their gloves and thumb tacks on their cups and what not?
Florian is just mad that he couldn’t “finish” a fight at 155!
Actually, you can apply certain lotions before a fight, and once you begin to sweat they create a slickness to the applied areas.
pretty good to beat Huerta, even it if was on points. gotto admit he is on tough fighter.