After an emotional rollercoaster of a week, Jay Hieron is still waiting to find out exactly where he’ll fight next, and he’s trying not to get his hopes up too soon. Despite reports that he has officially signed with Strikeforce, Hieron told us this morning that he hasn’t signed the contract, although he “likes what they’ve offered” and expects to have something finalized later this afternoon. For reasons that ought to be clear to anyone who knows Hieron’s history as the IFL welterweight champ, as well as his recent disappointment with the Affliction cancellation, he says he’s trying to keep his expectations in check until the contract is signed.
“I’m tired of getting excited for fights and then it doesn’t happen,” said Hieron. “I just trained eight weeks for a fight and then nothing. I won’t believe it until I sign something, and even then you never know.”
Hieron said it was his belief that if and when he does sign a contract with Strikeforce he’ll be added to the August 15 ‘Cyborg vs. Carano’ card to take on Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce welterweight championship.
If that happens, you could argue that the Affliction cancellation was a blessing in disguise for Hieron, as it resulted in him going from a fight with Paul Daley to a much more high-profile title bout with Diaz. Not only did he get a bump up in competition, he also moved from a pay-per-view card with a promotion on perpetually shaky footing to a premium cable event with a solidly dependable organization.
In other words, maybe losing his job with Affliction a week out from the fight was the best thing that could have happened for Hieron, even if it probably didn’t feel like it at the time.
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Best of luck to Hieron. I met him in Columbus and Nashville at Junies fight and he was one of the most down to earth fighters I have ever met. It would be great to see him get a belt back!