by: Jack Bratcher
Reigning IFL Welterweight Champ and Xtreme Couture resident badass, Jay Hieron has signed a three-fight deal with Affliction Entertainment. Although an opponent has not yet been named, Hieron is expected to fight at Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 11, in Las Vegas.
Hieron is on a three-fight win streak with his last two fights ending by way of TKO in round one. Hieron’s MMA record is 15-4. His first defeat came at the hands of Georges St. Pierre at UFC 48 in 2004. He then bounced around to a few different organizations until he found a home at the IFL in 2006. Well over half of Hieron’s professional MMA bouts took place in the IFL. He only lost two times in the IFL and on both ocasions it was by decision.
News of the IFL’s demise spread earlier this year with their roster of fighters going here and there. With some of their fighters trickling into the UFC, there were hopes from fans that the IFL’s most notable stars such as Horodecki, Nelson, and Hieron would also find their way into the premier MMA organization. Most would agree that the UFC welterweight and heavyweight classes could use a few new faces.
Not one to rest on their laurels and be satisfied with simply having the best heavyweight division in Mixed Martial Arts, Affliction has begun to build up their other weight classes with the recent addition of Chris Horodecki and now Jay Hieron. This has left many scratching their heads and wondering why the UFC chose the fighters they did from the IFL rubble. If a house burns down and you go in to try and salvage some of the valuables, why would you grab the piggy bank but dump most of the silver coins out first? Clearly, the UFC could have afforded Horodecki, Nelson, and Hieron, but instead they chose some of the lesser known and what some might consider lesser accomplished IFL vets. Could it be that it was the fighters who made the choice? It is starting to become more evident that fighters have more options these days than ever before what organization they want to fight for. And that’s a good thing, right?
Good acquisition for affliction