• Venue selection and negotiation
• Ticket management (vendor selection, ordering, printing, etc.)
• FloorPlan creation (layout, seating logistics, ring/cage placement, drawings, etc.)
• Equipment rental (chairs, bleachers, ring/cage, tables, pipe & drape, etc.)
• Food, beverage and alcohol management
• Business logistics (supplies, order management/tracking, printing, etc.)
• Run of show (rehearsal, bout order, intermission, special guests, national anthem, etc.)
• Staffing (security, ushers, ticket booth, production crew, locker room, etc.)
• Employee/Contractor work flow (meetings, procedures & protocols, training)
• Press/Media section (credentials, seating, logistics, filming, etc.)
• Athletic Commission liaison (licenses, compliance, officials, weigh-in management, etc.)
• Production Management (lighting, photography, videography, announcer scripts, etc.)
• Pre/Post fight promotional events (after parties, meet & greet, autograph sessions, etc.)

Panel Speakers: Marc Ratner, Tom Wright, Benson Henderson, Sal D’Amato, LaTeisha Adams

MMA Symposium and Networking event August 26th in Boston, MA

Recap of the Symposium along with photos and audio coming soon.

ActionFight, Inc. presents the first ever MMA Symposium and Networking event. The MMA symposium is an opportunity to discuss some of the most important issues in Mixed Martial Arts today including:

• MMA Sanctioning
• MMA’s Globalization
• MMA Judging
  

Panel Speakers

	Marc Ratner, VP of Regulatory Affairs, UFC Marc Ratner is the former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and joined the UFC in 2006 to become the VP of Regulatory Affairs. His main objective is to have the UFC sanctioned globally by regulatory bodies around the world as well as oversee the regulatory compliance of the UFC with those regulatory bodies.
	Tom Wright, Director of Operations, UFC Canada Tom Wright is the former Commissioner of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Wright was appointed Director of Operations for the newly opened UFC Canada office in May of 2010. Wright’s main focus will be growing the UFC’s brand in the Canadian market,  with an emphasis on sanctioning in Provinces that do not currently regulate MMA. Wright’s previous roles include President of Adidas Canada, President and CEO of Salomon North America and most recently Partner at Level5 Strategic Brand Advisors.  He has also been on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics Canada for over 25 years.
	LaTeisha Adams, Chair, Massachusetts Athletic Commission LaTeisha Adams is the Chairperson of the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission. Adams is a Martial Artist with over 25 years experience as a student, competitor, Instructor, and school owner. Adams is also a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The position of Chairperson for the MA Athletic Commission is an appointed volunteer position, which Adams does out of sheer love for Boxing and Martial Arts. In addition to serving on the MA Athletic Commission, Adams is also a Sergeant Detective for the Boston Police Department with over 16 years experience in law enforcement.
	Sal D’Amato, Licensed MMA Judge Sal D’Amato is a life long Martial Artist holding a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, is a three time national champion in Eskrima and currently practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. D’Amato has judged fights in organizations such as K-1, IFL, WEC, StrikeForce and the UFC. Damato has been assigned to judge some of the UFC’s highest profile fights including Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera, BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Nogueira, Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin and many more.
	Benson Henderson, WEC Lightweight Champion of the World Benson Henderson is the current WEC Lightweight Champion of the World. Henderson graduated from Dana College in 2006 with a double major in criminal justice and sociology , and was twice named an NAIA All-American in Wrestling. Henderson is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brown belt under John Crouch and holds a professional MMA record of 11-1

MMA Symposium Boston Sponsored By:

Robert Drysdale is a 6 time World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, the ADCC 2007 Absolute Division Champion and is currently training to make his professional MMA debut. Robert Drysdale was the BJJ coach for team captain Frank Mir on the hit UFC program “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV and is also the BJJ trainer for such top UFC fighters as Forrest Griffin, Frank Mir, Miguel Torres, Kevin Randleman, Joe Stevenson and others.

Provided Marketing, Sponsorship and Media Relations Services. Worked with Robert Drysdale to create a new marketing campaign to promote his new Las Vegas based gym, his BJJ All-Star Camp and his upcoming ADCC 2009 SuperFight in Barcelona. The campaign kicked off with press releases followed by interviews and appearances by various MMA media outlets. A sponsorship documentation package was created to obtain sponsors in various industries. In 2009, Robert was followed by TapouT Films director Bobby Razak for a film documenting Robert’s training and preparation for the ADCC 2009 SuperFight in Barcelona.

Robert Drysdale defeats BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia at the ADCC 2007 Absolute Divison Final

Robert Drysdale BJJ Academy in Las Vegas (Mats provided by Dollamur)

Robert Drysdale BJJ Academy in Las Vegas

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World Championship Fighting is a Massachusetts based MMA promotion. Provided complete marketing and event operations services. Led World Championship Fighting to become the largest, most attended and publicized MMA promotion in New England. Contract Negotiation, Sponsorship Sales, Budget, Ticket coordination, Staff hiring & coordination, Pre-Fight promotions, Autograph Session coordination, Public & Media Relations, Implemented online collaborative workspace for employees and contractors, Online & Print media coordination, Editorial writing, etc.

Highlights include: largest MMA crowd in New England (4,000), Guest appearances by UFC President Dana White, the TapouT crew, UFC Fighters Kenny Florian, Marcus Davis, Joe Lauzon,  Coverage by ESPN, NBCSports.com, HDNet’s Inside MMA and more!

From left to right: Rick Caldwell, Jorge Rivera, Mark DellaGrotte, Sean Gannon (Back),
Kenny Florian, Sal Carrillo (ActionFight owner), Joe Lauzon (Back), Marcus Davis, Joe Cavallaro.

WCF 1 and 2

WCF 3 and 4

WCF 5

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StrikeForce is a California based Mixed Martial Arts promotion created by Scott Coker. Coker is a fifth-degree black belt under Master Ernie Reyes Sr. and an original member of the West Coast Martial Arts Demonstration Team. StrikeForce originally started out as a Kickboxing organization and made the switch to Mixed Martial Arts in 2006 with the first ever Mixed Martial Arts event to be sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission. That first event, titled Shamrock vs. Gracie, set the North American Mixed Martial Arts attendance record with 18,265 fans in attendance.

Having worked my first MMA event with RAZE MMA Fight Night in San Diego, I was eager to get more experience in the MMA industry. At the time I was training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, CA and was put in contact with Scott Coker by American Kickboxing Academy founder Javier Mendez. I met regularly with Scott Coker at a local Noah’s Bagel shop and gained a wealth of knowledge from him. We discussed the development of the sport, promotional and marketing challenges and potential fighter match-ups and signings.

The next event, StrikeForce Revenge,  was scheduled for June 9, 2006. I was brought on board and performed the following duties:

• Shuttle fighters, managers and officials to and from the airport, hotel and venue
• Administrative paperwork including fighter contract collection, CSAC paperwork, fighter photos for CSAC license applications, bout sheets, itineraries, etc.
• Fighter and manager liaison at the hotel
• Various weigh-in duties
• Procure all fighter entrance music
• Various event operation duties
• Followed up with fighters regarding pay checks after the event
• Responsible for coordinating a pre-fight emergency blood test appointment for Duane Ludwig with a local lab & following up to make sure results would be in time

StrikeForce Revenge was the first large-scale MMA event I was a part of and gave me a very good handle on event operations in the MMA industry. I also met some great people including Clay Guida, Sven Bean, Cecil Peoples, Brian Warren, Duane Ludwig and so many more. My thanks go out to Scott Coker & Javier Mendez for giving me the opportunity, experience and knowledge which has served me so well in my career.

StrikeForce Revenge

Cage Combat Fighting Championships (CCFC) is a Northern California based MMA promotion founded by brothers Todd and Tully Middendorp. Todd Middendorp is a former MMA fighter who trained out of the Bohlander Submission Academy in Napa, CA. Provided CCFC with PR and Media Relations services including press releases, securing of interviews for the promoters and fighters, and post-fight press releases for their October 2007 event titled Undefeated.

Worked again with CCFC for their February 2008 event titled Annihilation and provided Operational services as well as PR and Media Relations services. Annihilation, for me, will go down as a completely flawless event operationally. It’s not very often that an event runs without a hitch in any industry, but for MMA this is especially true. Everything from working with the California State Athletic Commission during weigh-ins all the way through the main event went exactly according to plan. From my point of view the operations portion was the icing on the cake given that the event was sold-out and merchandise sales were solid the whole night! The highlight of that night was when inspectors from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), Frank Munoz and Che Guevera, came up to me after the event and said “Great job Sal. That was one of the best run shows we’ve ever been a part of, and that includes the UFC!”

Rick Cheek crowned the first CCFC Heavyweight Champion

Special Guests in attendance included: UFC veterans Chris Liguori, Tyson Griffin, Frankie Edgar,
K-1 veteran Travis Johnson, StrikeForce veteran Josh Thomson, StrikeForce champion Jake Shields,
WEC veteran Urijah Faber and StrikeForce Champion Gilbert Melendez

Cage Combat Undefeated and Annihilation

Sam “The Alaskan Assassin” Hoger is an alumni of UFC’s flagship reality TV show “The Ultimate Fighter” which airs on SpikeTV. As a member of the inaugural season, Sam was part of Mixed Martial Arts history as this was the first MMA reality TV show to air on a major television network. The ground breaking show is viewed as being the turning point for the sport of MMA in terms of gaining major mainstream media attention and  attracting major corporate sponsors such as Harley Davidson, Burger King and Bud Light.  After his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter TV show, Hoger faced some of the biggest names in the UFC Light Heavyweight division in future UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. Hoger lost both fights by the narrowest of margins and is now on the comeback trail to the UFC this time in the Heavyweight division.

In preparation for the opening of his new Houston based gym, Hoger MMA & Ultimate Fitness Center,  Sam Hoger requested the services of ActionFight, Inc. to provide Sponsorship Sales Services. In addition to obtaining sponsors for Hoger MMA & Ultimate Fitness Center, we also created a media relations campaign to promote Hoger’s upcoming fight in the Urban Rumble promotion landing him interviews with the largest MMA media outlets including MMA Junkie, MMAWeekly, Sherdog and more. In addition to MMA media outlets Sam Hoger was featured in a major Alaskan Newspaper article highlighting sports athletes from Alaska and has made appearances on local Houston Fox TV affiliates.

Sam Hoger

Team Hoger at the 2009 ADCC Regionals in Houston, TX

Hoger Mixed Martial Arts Academy

Hoger MMA Grappling Area & Boxing Ring (Mats supplied by Dollamur)

Hoger MMA Strength & Conditioning Area

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ActionFight, Inc. is a full service Marketing, Sales and Event Management company catering to the Mixed Martial Arts and Grappling industries as well as individual fighters and MMA apparel companies. We specialize in the following areas:

• Marketing (email, web, social networking, print, etc.)
• Public and Media Relations
• Sponsorship Sales
• Event Management & Operations (venue negotiations, floor plans, ticketing, staff, etc.)
• Business Operations (organization, management, operational procedures, etc.)
• Pre & Post-Fight promo events (autograph sessions, ring girl contests, after parties, etc.)
• Content creation (editorial writing)
• Web site design & maintenance

Services can be project based or long term. ActionFight provides companies and fighters with ways to improve their client base, sponsorships and exposure by implementing high quality marketing campaigns, operational procedures and sponsorship package development.

RAZE MMA Fight Night  took place on April 29, 2006 in San Diego California. It was one of the first sanctioned MMA events in the state of California (following Strikeforce’s March 6th event) and was co-promoted by T. Jay Thompson and Patrick Freitas of SuperBrawl and Icon Sport as well as MMA Super-Manager Monte Cox of Extreme Challenge and Adrenaline. This event had a ton of talent on the card and including future UFC fighters Alan Belcher and Roger Huerta. The main event featured UFC veterans Matt Lindland and Mike Van Arsdale in an exciting match up which ended in Van Arsdale tapping to Lindland’s patented “Choke Slam” guillotine choke.

I was fortunate enough to work this event after contacting Patrick Freitas and offering my services. This is the first MMA event I ever worked. Since T. Jay Thompson and Patrick Freitas were based in Hawaii and Monte Cox in Iowa, I offered to do much of the leg work of grass roots promotions in San Diego for them. This included recruiting street team members, coordinating poster and flyer deliveries and scheduling events and locations to flyer.  During the weigh-ins I worked on credential assignments, athletic commission paperwork and fighter related tasks. During the event I was able to see all of the moving parts that go into a live MMA show. I’m very grateful to T. Jay Thompson, Patrick Freitas and Monte Cox for allowing me to be a part of this event. I learned a lot of valuable information that would help me later in my career.

Patrick Freitas and I working on the credential situation during weigh-ins.

Matt Lindland choking Mike Van Arsdale

A victorious pre-UFC Roger Huerta

Raze MMA Fight Night April 29, 2006

By Sal Carrillo

August 22, 2006

Roger Huerta is one of the top up and coming lightweight fighters in the world. Roger will make his UFC debut at UFC 63 in Anaheim, California against Jason Reinhardt. Below is a very candid interview with the rising star as he shares his story with the entire MMA community.

SC: Hi Roger. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview.

RH: No problem.

============

SC: Let’s start out with some information about Roger Huerta the person, not the fighter. Give us a rundown of where you were born/raised and what your childhood was like.

RH: Well it’s kind of complicated! (Laughing) I was born in L.A. on May 20th 1983. My parents then moved to Dallas. My early years were spent in Dallas, but my parents separated. My mom started working three jobs and basically went crazy. She started abusing me and pretty much beating me up all of the time. Child protective services took my sister and me away from my mom. During this time we just roamed around foster homes until my dad obtained custody of us. My mom then stole us from my dad and took us to El Salvador. This was when the war was going on. At some point my mom just left me there with my grandparents, along with my little sister. I had to grow up very fast and had to adapt. I really had a tough childhood. Then my mom showed up one day to pick us up and dropped me off with my dad. I was about six years old at that time.

RH: Living with my dad was rough because my step mom abused me. My dad and I then moved to Mexico. Both my dad and I moved in with an aunt I had in Mexico. Then my dad just left me with my aunt. From there I moved in with grandparents I had in Mexico. I worked most of my childhood, just hustling and selling stuff to tourists. Out of the blue my dad came back to pick me up again. We moved to the Valley in Las Milpas, Texas at the end of my third grade year. Learning to speak English again was hard. At this time my dad began doing drugs and basically forgot he had a son. In fifth grade my step mom kicked me out since my dad had not showed up for a month. She believed that I wasnt her responsibility. It was hard, I had no place to go, no place to stay. I began staying with friends but it was mostly in rough neighborhoods. Most of the people were in gangs and sold drugs. School was a sanctuary for me because it offered free food: breakfast and lunch. In 7th grade I started playing football and track and field. I was very good at both and earned the MVP in football and track and field. Around this time I was living with a family called the Rangels. I met them through their son Mike who I was playing football with at the time. It was awkward living with a family that was not my own, but it was a place to live. One night I took the car out without permission and got in trouble for it. Taking that car out ended up getting me kicked out of the house.

RH: I was on my own again and staying with random friends. I started staying with a family named the Kings. A friend of mine, Ricky King, said I could live with his family. It was cool for a while because his mom was never really around. She finally realized that I was staying there, and said I could stay there if I stay out of trouble and got good grades. Maria King got custody of me. For the first time I didn’t have to work anymore, I was finally able to be a kid and enjoy my teenage years. After 8th grade the King family wanted to move to Missouri. I didn’t want to leave Texas and go so far away. At this time the Assistant Principle, Margie McCarthy, of my middle school took me in. I went to PSJA North for my freshman year of high school.

RH: I once again felt out of place with McCarthy family, but I stayed for about a year. That year Maria and Ricky King came back for the summer and they wanted to move to Austin Texas. So I moved with them to Austin. I Enrolled at Crocket High School as a sophomore and played football on the varsity squad. I was a 164lb nose guard who in midseason moved to running back. My original plan was to get a football scholarship to any D1 school but I ended up tearing my PCL. I was injured badly in the playoff game and needed to have knee surgery. That ended my football career. Rehabbing the knee was hard and I almost dropped out of school. I was hanging out with friends in San Antonio during the rehab and then came back to Austin. I tried to come back to football but I couldn’t. Things were rough living with the King family; I mean we were in a one-bedroom apartment. During my senior year I met wrestling coach Brian Ashford and Jo Ramirez who were great role models for me. They helped me cope with some of my bad past experiences. I asked Coach Ashford to get me somewhere in college. I told him I would do whatever he asked of me if he got me to college. I worked my ass off! When the State Championship tournament came around I was ranked ..1 in the state. During my second match of the tournament, I injured my knee again. I finished that state tournament 6th but qualified for a national tournament in Delaware. I ended up taking 7th at nationals. I was recruited by a lot of schools for wrestling and ended up choosing Augsburg College in Minneapolis. I moved to Minneapolis and started going to school and wrestle. Winter was a big shock for me; I never had to deal with anything like that. It was so cold and people stayed inside most of the time. I started getting home sick during the winter. The only person who helped me through all of this was Jo Ramirez. One day she asked if I wanted to come home for thanksgiving break, she also asked if i wanted to be part of her family. I was confused and didn’t really understand the idea of a family. I mean, she already had 7 kids, all of whom are college graduates. Having never had a “real” home before I wanted to join in. Coming home for the summers really made her family grow on me. Having her children joke around with me really started to make me feel at home and part of the family. I finally started to experience what a real family was about. Jo Ramirez ended up adopting me that year.

RH: Can we stop for now? I’m getting tired! (Laughing)

SC: Sure no problem, we can start where we left off. I didn’t know you were going to give me the whole life story! (Laughing)

RH: I told you it was complicated! You caught me at a time where I felt like sharing I guess. (Laughing)

CONTINUED…

RH: I finished my freshman year wrestling but had lots of injuries (shoulder and knee). During the end of my freshman year I started doing MMA in the amateur ranks. Brad Kholer had shows in Minnesota so I did some of those. Once I got a taste I decided to quit wrestling and decided to start training in MMA. A friend of mine, Chad, called and asked if I wanted to be in a 4 man tournament. Chad also asked if I wanted to train at Dave Menne’s gym. I met Dave and started training really hard at his gym. At that time I was aggressive fighter and Dave taught me how to calm down and use more technique. At the end of my sophomore year I moved to Dallas Texas to train with Guy Mezger and then decided to take a semester off from school. There was a Muay Thai coach, Francisco Sanchez, at Mezger’s gym who taught me a lot. I also took a lot of private classes with Mezger. Coach Ashford is the guy who hooked me up with Mezger. I began teaching kids classes and stuff, it was really nice. After that I went back to school in Minneapolis. I had some troubles with concentrating in school and was also getting homesick again. I went back to training with Dave Menne full time. Dave became my mentor and he taught me a lot on the ground. It’s been a great friendship. That pretty much leads us up to now! (Laughing)

============

SC: What are some of your interests outside of Mixed Martial Arts (Music, Movies, Knitting, other sports, etc.)?

RH: Let’s see… I like going to the theatres to see movies, I love to spend time in Austin with Mrs. King and my mom (Jo Ramirez). I go to Barton Springs in Austin quite a bit. Oh and San Marcus, I love going tubing down the river. I’m more of an outdoors person; I don’t like being in the house at all. I just love being outdoors. I also like playing Texas Holdem and video games.

============

SC: Where are you training currently and who are some of your training partners?

RH: Right now I’m training at Dave Menne’s gym in Minnesota. Dave has moved his gym a couple of times (from Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove) so there were some times when I didn’t train there because it was hard to get to that gym and gas prices went up at that time. I also trained for about a month with the Militech guys like Matt Pena, Jens Pulver, Tim Silvia, Josh Neer, Spencer Fisher, and all the others in preparation for Hermes.

============

SC: How did you originally get into the sport of Mixed Martial Arts?

RH: A wrestling teammate of mine, Rich Miller, fought on amateur shows. That’s how I got into it. I had seen MMA in middle school and high school. The first time I saw Vitor Belfort fight I was amazed. That was my sophomore year in high school I think. I wanted to be like Vitor. It was heartbreaking to see him fight Randy and lose. Vitor was one of the main fighters I looked up to when I was just a fan. I first started training with Rich Miller; I also trained at the Augsburg wrestling gym with Jemell Tidwell and Ryan Stroud.

============

SC: You were supposed to have made your UFC debut at UFC 61 against the very dangerous Hermes Franca and you had to pull out due to injury. Can you tell us a little bit about the injury and how you felt when you knew you would not be able to fight at UFC 61?

RH: A week before the fight I was grappling with Matt Hughes. I was in his guard and Matt went for a Kimura. We both heard a rip (like a shirt tearing). Matt let go right away and felt so bad. I went to a doctor and they found partly torn ligaments in my elbow.

SC: Did it swell up?

RH: It swelled up HUGE! I thought about getting a cortisone shot and still fighting, but I decided not to because I would be risking further injury. I was out for 6 weeks, just doing nothing. After about 6 weeks I started to rehab the elbow. I was heartbroken because I’ve wanted to fight in the UFC for ever. It’s been my dream, my goal and I had told people that I would be there one day. I’ve always set my goals high and people never really seemed to believe in me. When I first learned I would be fighting in the UFC I called my boss Vinnie to take time off and train for the fight. Vinnie is amazing and told me to go for it. When the injury happened I was shocked and disappointed. Meeting Matt Pena, Jens Pulver, Tim Silvia, and all the Militech guys was the best thing to come out of this ordeal. I was staying with Monte out in Iowa for my training. Staying with Monte was great; his family was amazing to me the whole time. Monte is like a dad to me now and I’ll be with him until I retire. I could not be luckier to have a manager like Monte. I mean Monte works at least 20 hours of each day! How hard he works for his fighters made me realize how good a person Monte is. The experience of training with those guys was still great even if I didn’t get to fight.

============

SC: How is the injury coming along? Do you have any type of timeline as to when you may return to action? Will your return be in the UFC?

RH: I’m at about 85 percent right now. My Chiropractor, Carl Peterson, is working on me. My treatment includes: muscle stims, icing, and stretching. It’s a blessing to have Carl Peterson. Right now I’m training at about 85 percent. I’m lifting weights, sparring, and grappling. I will be coming back on the UFC 63 card in September in California.

============

SC: Let’s talk about the lightweight division. It is one of the most dynamic, fast paced and exciting divisions in all of MMA. It is also one of the deepest divisions talent wise. Are there any fighters in your division that you would like to face?

RH: Not really. I want to show that I am one of the best fighters in the world and that I will be one of the best until I retire. My goal is to win the belt, and defend it until I retire. Actually… now that I think about it, I would like to fight Gomi (Takanori Gomi). I love his style. I’d love to fight Gomi one day. He’s always pressing the fight just like me. I think it would be a really great match-up.

============

SC: Who are some of the fighters that you like to watch as a fan?

RH: Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Kazushi Sakuraba. I also love watching Fedor fight, he’s an animal!

============

SC: Let’s switch gears and talk a little bit about the sport of MMA as a whole. The sport has received a ton of attention and media lately which has led to growth on a very large scale. What are your thoughts on the growth of MMA over the past few years?

RH: I think the sport deserves the attention that it is finally getting. I would like more organizations to step in and give fighters a shot. I loved the fact that the UFC came out with TUF (The Ultimate Fighter reality show). I think that (TUF) is the biggest factor for the growth. The UFC is making great strides for the growth of MMA. I love the growth the sport is experiencing, it’s just a great sport and I love it.

============

SC: What type of goals have you set for yourself not only in the fight game, but in life?

RH: In life I would like to finish college. I want to finish college by May. I’d also like to open up a gym to help out the community, especially the kids in the tough neighborhoods. I’d love to help kids that don’t have anyone. We live in a very crazy world, if I’m here on this earth to be a role model then that’s what I want to do. Another goal of mine is that I want a family of my own, and possibly adopt kids. I want to be a great father who will be there for his kids, his family, and anyone else who needs it. I want to give as much as I can in this life. People look at MMA as being gruesome and brutal. A lot of fighters are smart people and have college degrees, it’s a professional sport and I want people to realize that. I want to help educate people who look at the sport badly.

============

SC: This is the point in the interview where you get to tell us about anything you want people to know about Roger Huerta that we may not have learned anywhere else. Most interviews are focused on a certain topic and don’t allow the person being interviewed to fully express themselves or make a statement, so this is your chance if you have anything you want to put out on the table.

RH: I want people to know that I had nothing growing up, no family, nothing. I want people to know that only they have the power and determination to determine where they can go in this world.

============

SC: Thank you for the interview it has been a pleasure. Is there anything else you would like to say in closing?

RH: I just wanted to thank God for putting amazing people around me. I want to thank Monte Cox, Jens Pulver, Matt Pena, Dave Menne, Carl Peterson, the Tapout Crew, Jo Ramirez, Maria King, Cassandra Guzman, Wendy and Jay, the Rangel family, The McCarthy family, and Monte’s family. I also want to thank the Augsberg wrestling team, Coach Ashford, and you Sal for the interview.

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