By The Numbers: Roger Huerta vs. Robert Whiteford

Roger Huerta long ago reached the stage of his career where any outing could serve as a last hurrah.

“El Matador” will return to the cage for the first time in 1,275 days when he makes his Professional Fighters League debut opposite fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA alum Robert Whiteford in the PFL Europe 3 co-headliner on Saturday at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Huerta steps back into view on a four-fight losing streak. He last fought at Bellator 255, where he submitted to punches from Christopher Gonzalez in the third round of their April 2, 2021 encounter. Whiteford also has to shake off some considerable rust. The Scotsman last competed on May 13, 2022, when he succumbed to punches from former M-1 Global champion Daniel Weichel at Bellator 281.

As Huerta and Whiteford approach their looming battle at a 150-pound catchweight, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

41: Years of age for Huerta, who was born in Los Angeles on May 20, 1983. “Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi,” “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone,” “Blue Thunder,” “Flashdance” and “Breathless” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.

5: Huerta wins by submission, accounting for 21% of his career total (24). His methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes and one kneebar. Huerta owns 12 wins by knockout or technical knockout (50%), five more by decision (21%) and two others by disqualification (8%).

19: Seconds needed for Huerta to put away John Halverson with punches at UFC 67 on Feb. 3, 2007. More than 17 years later it remains his fastest finish to date.

91: Rounds started by Huerta as a professional mixed martial artist. He has involved the judges on 12 different occasions and carries a 5-5-1 record with one no contest in those bouts.

231: Combined victories between the 13 men—Gonzalez, Sidney Outlaw, Patricky Freire, Benson Henderson, Ariel Sexton, Koji Ando, Zorobabel Moreira, War Machine, Eddie Alvarez, Pat Curran, Gray Maynard, Kenny Florian and Ryan Schultz—who have beaten Huerta. They boast a .698 cumulative winning percentage at 231-99-4.

41: Years of age for Whiteford, who was born on April 12, 1983 in Fauldhouse, Scotland—some 4,200 miles from where he often trains at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.

8: Whiteford victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 50% of his career total (16). His list of victims: Sam Sicilia, Paul Redmond, Martin Svensson, Jonny Goodall, David Galbraith, Chris Batty, Rich Edgeworth and Alan Duffy. Whiteford holds one other victory by submission (6%) and seven more by decision (44%).

3: Sub-minute stoppages on the Whiteford resume. He buried Goodall with punches in 15 seconds at a Headhunters MMA event on Oct. 2, 2011, took care of Svensson with punches in 43 seconds under the Vision Fighting Championship banner on Sept. 1, 2012 and put Nam Phan to sleep with a guillotine choke in 21 seconds at an Absolute Championship Berkut show on March 11, 2017.

9: Organizations for which Whiteford has plied his MMA trade. He has gone 2-3 in the UFC, 3-0 in Absolute Championship Berkut, 3-0 in Supremacy Fight Challenge, 2-1 in Absolute Combat, 1-1 with one no contest in Bellator, 2-0 in Vision Fighting Championship, 1-0 in Hostile Territory, 1-0 in On Top Promotions and 1-0 in Headhunters MMA.

.696: Cumulative winning percentage between the five men—Weichel, Lucas Martins, Darren Elkins, Jim Hettes and Bobby McVitie—who have defeated Whiteford. They sport a combined record of 112-49.