The final match on the televised portion of Bellator 43 was the welterweight tournament final match-up between Rick Hawn (11-0) of Dracut, MA and Jay Hieron (21-4) of Las Vegas, NV.
Not only does the winner of this match get a $100,000 pay day, but they will also get a shot at Ben Askren for the Bellator welterweight title.
After a 14 month layoff, Hieron was looking to win his third fight in two months.
Hawn, the US Olympian, was looking to keep his perfect professional record in tact.
The first round started with both fighters landing some very good strikes. Hieron was able to move, slip Hawn’s punches, and land counter punches with relative ease.
Midway through the first round, it appeared Hieron had found his groove, as he began to pick apart Hawn. This continued until the bell rang to end the round.
Round two began right where round one left off. While Hawn was landing a higher percentage of his strikes than he did in the first round, it was Hieron who was landing the cleaner, harder punches.
At the midway point of the round, Hawn landed a punch that appeared to drop Hieron. It was unclear if it was the punch or if Hieron slipped. but after landing that punch, Hawn’s confidence went noticeably up and he began to charge forward more and punch with bad intentions.
The last minute of the round saw both fighters throwing bombs at each other, before Hieron got a very brief takedown as the round came to a close.
As round three began, Hawn looked to be the the more energized of the two fighters. While Hieron was throwing his unorthodox strikes, it was Hawn that was landing the better punches.
Hawn continued to push forward, landing his jab and right hand, while Hieron would hand a strike here and there. This trend continued for the duration of the final round.
Official result—Jay Hieron def Rick Hawn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Hieron will move on to fight Ben Askren at a date to be announced and moves his record 22-4. Rick Hawn drops to 11-1.