He can get punched in the face, accrue ugly cuts and bruises that would ruin the month for most shmoes with coital ambitions, yet retain the striking good looks that buckle the knees of Hollywood executives like a Muay Thai leg kick.

Yes, “El Matador” has movie-star handsomeness. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has helped make that plain for everyone to see. In the past year or so, the powerful promotion rightly exploited Huerta’s drawing power by hitching its publicity machine to his tattooed torso, generating significant interest (largely among females, Spanish-speaking fanatics and at least one buddy of mine who refuses to admit his man-crush) that helped produce a groundbreaking appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

So, it came as no surprise this week when Huerta, 6-1 as an Octagon operative, said he may take a hiatus from busting less-attractive faces in favor of showing his acting chops. The Minnesotan opted against a new, five-fight contract with the UFC (he has one bout left on his current pact), saying he wants to pursue work in films.

Who wouldn’t?

I don’t care how prideful, diligent and devoted a fighter is to his craft, which happens to be the manliest thing a man can do. When an opportunity presents itself to a red-blooded male to, among other things, fire fake guns, serve as a model for computer generated imagery, lock lips with starlets, participate in choreographed fights scenes that make him look like an all-powerful hero, and earn lumps of cash in exchange for reciting a few cheesy lines, he would be a letdown to his entire gender if he said, “Nah, I’d rather choke a dude.”

Huerta is just 25 years old, and while he might not have reached the zenith of MMA in his stellar 23-fight career (20-2-1), it’s clear he is capable of achieving notoriety and success even without wearing the UFC’s lightweight championship belt.

Such fame flexibility should be embraced in MMA circles. Someone like Huerta puts a pretty face on a sport that’s suffered from ignorant stereotypes and stared longingly at the pillar of “mainstream acceptance” since its bloody inception.

This might be another step in that direction, since most other athlete-actors have come from traditional sports like football (Jim Brown, Brian Bosworth, O.J. Simpson, etc.) and basketball (Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Rick Fox, etc.). After skimming a “Who’s Who” MMA roster, Huerta has the requisite features for crossover appeal (no, out of respect for my heterosexuality, I will not list them), whether he can act or not.