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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commentsI also appreciate that Strikeforce is looking to build fighters instead of signing big name/established fighters. Sure, there are a few names in the promotion (Sobral, Overeem, Carano, etc.) that are well-known, but they are filled primarily with lesser known fighters that don't suck. Ask somebody on the street who Gilbert Melendez is and they'll look at you as if you had lobsters crawling out of your ears. I once worried that the WEC would put Strikeforce out of business since they followed a similar business model, but once they did away with their heavier weight divisions, those fears went away.
I'd like to see Daley get signed. That way we can see the rematch against Jake Shields. Hell, make the winner of that fight be the #1 contender to the WW belt.
As far as Arlovksi is concerned, I think it's going to be a while before we see him fight, at least at the level that he has been fighting at. One could argue that Fedor got lucky, but Arlovski's refusal to learn how to move laterally and inability to duck was begging for Rogers to KO him with prejudice. Strikeforce will probably pick him up for cheap, and have him be a gatekeeper until he proves that he can learn from past mistakes. In no way do I see him competing for the HW belt, at least for another year or two.
One of the things that Strikeforce is doing right is beefing up their roster. they're starting to get the depth they need to be a major organization. They do need to beef up their heavyweight division.
Also, I'd like to see them pick up Paul "Semtex' Daley.
And what about Arlovski? Is he gonna fight for them again?
Strikeforce keeps getting better and better in my opinion, and this just helps them gain legitimacy in the eyes of other MMA fans, casual or otherwise.
Hieron vs Diaz sounds GREAT!
This Strikeforce card is getting stacked again!
Kudos to Strikeforce. After losing Overeem and Riggs, they bounce back lickity-split and turn Afflictions lemons into their own win-tainted-lemonade!
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