Chad Hinton kicks Roger Huerta. Photo courtesy of Bellator.

Augsburg wrestling standout Roger Huerta was successful in his return to the cage on Thursday night in front of a national TV audience, defeating Cincinnati's Chad Hinton in their first round matchup of Bellator Fighting Championships' lightweight tournament.

"El Matador" as he is known inside the cage, improved his record to 23-3-1 (1NC) when he vanquished Hinton by submission in the third round of their fight, ending Huerta's two fight losing streak.

"Chad Hinton was no joke," Huerta said after the fight. "That's part of why I love Bellator. Just because a guy like Chad hasn't been publicized and hasn't been on TV before doesn't mean he's not a great fighter. It was an honor to be out there with him and an honor to fight for Bellator. I'm happy to be back."

Hinton came out strong against Huerta, winning a close opening round with a big slam, but Huerta came back in the second round even stronger, taking the fight to the mat and landing some devastating hammer fists, clearly taking round two. Round three saw the fight quickly go back to the mat, where Huerta wasted no time in catching Hinton with a knee-bar, winning the fight at :56 into the round.

Minnesota's other lightweight in the tournament, Carey Vanier, was also successful in his opening bout, defeating former U.S. Army Ranger and Purple Heart recipient Joe Duarte by TKO in at 4:14 in the third round.

Vanier looked impressive, controlling most of the fight against an opponent who was cutting weight down from 180 pounds to 156. The cut clearly hurt Duarte as he ran out of gas in the third round, giving Vanier the opportunity to take his back and rain down with some forceful punches. When it became clear that Duarte couldn't even raise a hand to stop the blows, referee Jorge Alonzo quickly stepped in and stopped the bout.

Both Huerta and Vanier will move onto the semi-finals of the lightweight tournament, which are expected to take place sometime in June. A replay of their fights will air late night this Saturday on Ch. 11.

Bellator's second season of TV will continue this Thursday on the Fox Sports Network with two fights in the opening round of their featherweight tournament, live from Chicago.