Kenny Florian vs. Roger Huerta: UFC 87

The countdown continues as there is only 5 days left until UFC 87, Seek and Destroy. To continue my coverage of the event, I will now take a look at an extremely interesting matchup between Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta.

The two best lightweights in the UFC are BJ Penn and Sean Sherk. However, the best of the rest includes Kenny Florian and Roger Huerta. I also put Joe Stevenson in this group, but that is a subject for another post. Now, these two will fight to determine the number one contender for the UFC lightweight title.

Kenny Florian made a name for himself on the original Ultimate Fighter. After fighting his way into the finals, he suffered a TKO loss to Diego Sanchez. The loss seemed to make Florian even more focused than before and he went onto win three straight fights.

With the three straight wins, Florian earned himself a title shot against Sean Sherk. Unfortunately for Florian, he wasn't able to deal with the strength of Sherk and lost a unanimous decision. Once again, the loss seemed to focus Florian's efforts more than ever. After the loss, Florian once again went on a win streak reeling off four straight wins.

Florian once again stands on the cusp of his title shot. The man standing in his way is Roger Huerta. A very exiting fighter, Huerta owns and impressive 22-1-1 record (6-0 in the UFC). Huerta gained his notoriety two-fold. First, he appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover. Then, the UFC, trying to cash in on his cover) featured him in five events in 2007.

The exposure was good for Huerta, but he was clearly drained from all the fights. He decided to recover by taking off most of 2008 and the fight with Florian will be his first this year. An interesting side note, Huerta has two fights left on his contract while being only one fight away from the title match. The UFC often won't give the fighter with one fight on his contract a title shot until he signs a new contract. If Huerta wins this fight, we may once again be in a contract freeze until one side caves.

Breaking down this fight is extremely difficult. Both fighters are known for their conditioning, so I don't expect that to be a factor. I have to give Florian the edge with submissions and you can't forget about his dangerous elbows. Huerta brings an energy to all of his fights and probably has the edge in the standup.

The x-factor for Florian has to be his experience. He has fought a much more impressive list of opponents including Sean Sherk, Din Thomas, Chris Leben and Diego Sanchez. He always looks focused and throws those elbows with malicious intent. As much as I like Huerta, I believe Florian will be able to catch Huerta in a submission or land one of those famous elbows. Either way, this should be fun to watch.