Report: Former IFL champion Jay Hieron to sign with Affliction
MMA Weekly is reporting that Jay Hieron officially announced that he would be signing a one-year, three-fight deal with Affliction. His Xtreme Couture teammates, Mike Pyle and Chris Horodecki, have all jumped on board with Affliction and Hieron is the latest fighter that they’ve added to their stable. Hieron had some thoughts on the deal:
“They came and offered me what I thought I was worth, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” he said.
“I’m finally going to see where my career’s going,” he said. “Now I can just put my mind at ease and train and know I have a home. Get back to what I love doing, and that’s competing.”
I love that Hieron’s going to get an opportunity to shine on a bigger stage. He was once with the UFC but it was so early in his career and he was fed to a superstar in the making in Georges St. Pierre in his first UFC bout. That didn’t make for an especially impressive debut. Since that time, however, Hieron has only gotten better. He’s found a great camp to work with and he has absolutely shined since he signed on with the IFL, going 7-2 with the promotion and capturing their welterweight championship in the process. With the IFL going under, however, Hieron was left in a state of flux and had to make a move on where to go next.
As much as I would have liked to seen Hieron back in the UFC with the best 170 lbs. fighters in the world, Affliction will give him an opportunity to stand out in a less crowded division. Actually, it’s a division that’s really only occupied by one other guy right now and that’s Hieron’s teammate Mike Pyle. So while finding worthy opponents at this point is an obstacle that Affliction has to overcome, it’s good to see that Hieron is finally getting his due.
Adam Morgan is
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Hieron is a good fighter and it’s good to see him sign up with Affliction..
So he can fight Mike Pyle their next three shows? Oh wait, that’s right, I forgot. The major exodus of all good fighters from all the other orgs to Affliction starts next week, right?
What are these guys that are signing to Affliction for a year going to do when they are out of business in a month or 6 months from now still waiting on a pay check and still waiting and wondering if they are out of business and they are stuck waiting to find out.
These guys will be like the IFL, they will be stuck without a fight or a payday or even a fight scheduled because of the fall of Affliction
Such a mistake!
Affliction should focus on their heavyweights and try to dominate that division. They can bring in other weight divisions but there isn’t really much point.
Any decent welterweights who are not under contract to Zuffa should go to Elite XC – Jake Shields as recognized widely as top 10 if not top 5 at WW and anybody who doesn’t sign with Zuffa should go after him.
At this rate I agree with the above. Affliction is gonna be afflicted with the bankruptcy disease that’s been spreading around mma.
Hieron is a good fighter… but well, I don’t really care how good you are if you have nobody decent to fight… or hell… nobody at all to fight.
Fighters going to Affliction are in for a quick pay day and a quick exit… can’t necessarily say ya blame them though.
I certainly share some of the same concerns as everyone else about the longevity of Affliction. But I certainly don’t fault Hieron one bit for getting the most money he can for a fight. If Affliction folds at some point the UFC will still be there, or some other organization, so might as well get the money while you can.
I would like to see him fight some good competition, which as of now he isn’t going to get in Affliction. But hopefully they eventually either work something out to get him a good fight, or sign someone once they become a free agent.