Roger Huerta says he still has a lot of fight left in him.

The former UFC lightweight is officially bound for Bellator Fighting Championships and joins its season-two lightweight tournament with a chip on his shoulder.

"I've fought my whole life to get to where I am today, and this is a point where I honestly believe this is like a second chance for me," Huerta (20-3-1 MMA, 0-0 Bellator) said during a video press conference announcing his new Bellator contract.

Huerta vies for the right to face current lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez; an eight-man tournament that kicks off on April 8 in Chicago will determine a challenger for the season-one tourney winner.

After he sat out much of the previous two years and contemplated a move from fighting to acting, Huerta said he's ready to dedicate himself to his true passion.

"My passion's in fighting," he said. "This is what I've been doing since, I think, the day I was born."

Bellator's tournament provides the perfect format for him to jump head-first back into the fight game.

"I've got to give the fighters my best because anything can happen in this tournament, anything can happen in the sport of mixed martial arts," said Huerta, who makes his promotional debut April 8 at Bellator 13 against an opponent to be named later this week. "It has my attention 100 percent."