Tag: bellator 56

Jay Hieron is Officially a Free Agent, But it Wasn’t Cheap


(This is the last known photo taken of Jay Hieron before he was forced to cut off that thumb to fulfill contractual obligations.) 

You gotta feel sorry for Jay Hieron. After a successful run through Bellator’s season 4 welterweight tournament, he was given the chance to knock reigning champion and narcolepsy catalyst Ben Askren from his perennial throne at Bellator 56. The fight was close to say the least, but it was the general consensus that Hieron had done enough (ie. stop Askren’s takedowns) to earn the title. The judges, however, saw things differently, awarding Askren the victory despite his usual lack of anything resembling offense. Sometimes these things happen in MMA. And just like that, Hieron’s title hopes, and a ten fight win streak dating back to 2007, were destroyed.

Cut to a year later. Hieron has requested time and time again for a rematch with Askren, only to be repeatedly denied by the Bellator brass, who informed him that if he is so desperate to get “Funky,” he should sign up for the next tournament and try his luck. Hieron wasn’t having it, and asked to be released from his contract.

And although Bellator are likely dealing with some separation issues at the moment, they kindly obliged “The Thoroughbred”…on the grounds that he would return a significant amount of money first.

Hear Hieron’s side of the story after the jump. 


(This is the last known photo taken of Jay Hieron before he was forced to cut off that thumb to fulfill contractual obligations.) 

You gotta feel sorry for Jay Hieron. After a successful run through Bellator’s season 4 welterweight tournament, he was given the chance to knock reigning champion and narcolepsy catalyst Ben Askren from his perennial throne at Bellator 56. The fight was close to say the least, but it was the general consensus that Hieron had done enough (ie. stop Askren’s takedowns) to earn the title. The judges, however, saw things differently, awarding Askren the victory despite his usual lack of anything resembling offense. Sometimes these things happen in MMA. And just like that, Hieron’s title hopes, and a ten fight win streak dating back to 2007, were destroyed.

Cut to a year later. Hieron has requested time and time again for a rematch with Askren, only to be repeatedly denied by the Bellator brass, who informed him that if he is so desperate to get “Funky,” he should sign up for the next tournament and try his luck. Hieron wasn’t having it, and asked to be released from his contract.

And although Bellator are likely dealing with some separation issues at the moment, they kindly obliged “The Thoroughbred”…on the grounds that he would return a significant amount of money first.

When interviewed by NBC Sports, Hieron revealed that he had to hand over his signing bonus in order to be released from his contract:

I asked for a rematch with (Ben) Askren and they said no to go back through the tournament. That just didn’t make sense to me cause I thought I beat him already. I had to pay them back my signing bonus, but at this point in my career, I would rather do that than sit on the shelf.

It has never been a policy of Bellator to grant an immediate rematch with a champion, and in fact it has never happened in the promotion’s history. Alexander Shlemenko had to fight his way back to a rematch with Hector Lombard, and even after he did just that, he still didn’t receive it, so for Hieron to consider himself an exception is perhaps wrong on his part. Then again, Shlemenko’s fight with Lombard wasn’t exactly close, whereas Hieron could easily make the claim that he won rounds 1, 3, and 5 of the fight. Like we said, sometimes these things happen in MMA.

In either case, Hieron couldn’t be happier to get back int the game, tweeting the following:

Just got my release from BELLATOR..Time to work my way up too the top.

Hieron is currently scheduled to return to action on July 13th against an opponent TBA at a Legacy FC card, but he made sure that his contract with this promotion allows him to break said contract if he gets a call from any higher up *cough* UFC *cough* promotions in the near future. Hieron told NBC Sports, “Maybe if someone gets injured (we) will possibly get on a UFC card before.”

Let’s hope so. Hieron’s record may stand at a paltry 0-2 in the octagon, with losses coming to George St. Pierre (understandable) and Jonathan Goulet (WTF?!), but the man is a pretty damn entertaining fighter in his own right, and would make a welcome addition to the 170-pound division. Currently 22-5 in MMA competition, Hieron owns notable wins over current UFC welterweight contender Jake Ellenberger and former UFC brawler Joe “Diesel” Riggs among others.

So who’d like to see “The Thoroughbred” back in the octagon?

-J. Jones

Bellator 56 Recap: Askren Survives Hieron, Prindle and Santos Advance

Askren vs. Hieron, part one. All videos in this post via IronForgesIron.com

Bellator returned to action last night in Kansas City with action from the heavyweight tournament and a welterweight title fight between current champion Ben Askren and Season Four tournament winner Jay Hieron. Earlier this week, Ben Askren promised to “maul Jay Hieron”, as our more astute readers may remember. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. We’ll discuss that more in a minute.

The night kicked off with heavyweight tournament semifinals action. To say these fights delivered quick, exciting finishes puts it mildly- It’ll take some of you longer to read this sentence than it’ll take you to actually watch the fights. In the first matchup, Eric Prindle countered a leg kick from Ron Sparks with a brutal straight right forty seconds into their fight. Not to be outdone, Thiago Santos quickly dropped Bellator Season Three heavyweight tournament finalist Neil Grove and sunk in a rear naked choke. The total amount of time it took Santos to do this? Thirty eight seconds. Don’t blink when Eric Prindle meets Thiago Santos at Bellator 59.


Askren vs. Hieron, part one. All videos in this post via IronForgesIron.com

Bellator returned to action last night in Kansas City with action from the heavyweight tournament and a welterweight title fight between current champion Ben Askren and Season Four tournament winner Jay Hieron. Earlier this week, Ben Askren promised to “maul Jay Hieron”, as our more astute readers may remember. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. We’ll discuss that more in a minute.

The night kicked off with heavyweight tournament semifinals action. To say these fights delivered quick, exciting finishes puts it mildly- It’ll take some of you longer to read this sentence than it’ll take you to actually watch the fights.  In the first matchup, Eric Prindle countered a leg kick from Ron Sparks with a brutal straight right forty seconds into their fight. Not to be outdone, Thiago Santos quickly dropped Bellator Season Three heavyweight tournament finalist Neil Grove and sunk in a rear naked choke. The total amount of time it took Santos to do this? Thirty eight seconds. Don’t blink when Eric Prindle meets Thiago Santos at Bellator 59.

Now, on to Askren vs. Hieron. The first round saw Jay Hieron stuff all of Ben Askren’s takedown attempts, but Askren managed to secure a takedown in the second round, keeping the challenger on his back for nearly the entire round. After the second round, takedowns for the champion were far more infrequent. By the fifth round, Hieron appeared confident that he would be crowned the new champion, as Askren was completely ineffective against him. However, the judges did not see it this way, as Ben Askren defeated Jay Hieron by split decision.


Askren vs. Hieron, part two.

So what do you guys think? Did Jay Hieron get robbed, or did Ben Askren do enough to win rounds one, two and four? Does this support the need for a new scoring system in MMA? Have at it in the comments section.

Full results, courtesy of Pro MMA Now:

MAIN CARD (MTV2)
Ben Askren def. Jay Hieron via split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)
Thiago Santos def. Neil Grove via submission (rear naked choke) Rd 1 (0:38)
Jeremy Spoon def. Adam Schindler via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Eric Prindle def. Ron Sparks via knockout (punch) Rd 1 (0:40)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com)
Marcio Navarro def. Rudy Bears via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Kelvin Tiller def. Dan Spohn via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Emanuel Brooks def. Willian de Souza via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Jacob Aiken def. Jeimeson Saudino via submission (rear naked choke) Rd 1 (3:26)
Aaron Ely def. Owen Evinger via submission (rear naked choke) Rd 1 (3:45)

MMA Girls in Sexy Halloween Costumes Bring You the Fix Friday Link Dump

The very powerful Kenda “Cleopatra” Perez pictured [above]. Dana White urges gay fighters to “come out”: here. Bellator 56: Askren vs. Hieron weigh-in results: here. Chuck Liddell‘s appearance on NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation: here..

The very powerful Kenda “Cleopatra” Perez pictured [above].

Dana White urges gay fighters to “come out”: here.

Bellator 56: Askren vs. Hieron weigh-in results: here.

Chuck Liddell‘s appearance on NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation: here.

Dana White believes signing Jon Anik was key to bringing the sport mainstream: here.

UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz live and official weigh-in results at 7pm ET (4pm PT): here.

Bellator will cover medical expenses including surgery for their women’s champion, Zoila Frausto Gurgel: here.

It was announced that a stuntman died on the set of the Expendables 2, which will again feature Randy Couture: here.

Enjoy our favorite MMA girls confusing us by being sexy and scary below: (Actually, now they sound more like your girlfriend than you realized.)

Kenda Perez:

Arianny Celeste:

Stephanie Ann Cook:

Natasha Wicks:

Ben Askren, Bellator Give Back to Tornado Victims in Joplin, Mo.

Filed under: Bellator, NewsBen Askren walked around the city of Joplin, Mo., in late May and could hardly believe what he was seeing.

The Bellator welterweight champion had been in the nearby town of Neosho to help at a wrestling clinic not long afte…

Filed under: ,

Ben Askren walked around the city of Joplin, Mo., in late May and could hardly believe what he was seeing.

The Bellator welterweight champion had been in the nearby town of Neosho to help at a wrestling clinic not long after a massive EF5 tornado devastated Joplin, ravaging everything in its path. It was one of the deadliest tornados in world history, killing 162 people.

Askren went to view the damage with friends from his days wrestling for the University of Missouri. Looking at the destruction, he knew there had to be a way to give something back – some how, some way.

“We went to one guy’s house, and it wasn’t even a house,” Askren told MMA Fighting on Thursday, recalling the devastation. “It was just two walls, the roof was all gone, and you just look at that and think, ‘I can’t imagine this being my house. There’s nothing left here.’ Everything they owned is just gone, and they’re staying with family and friends. You feel for people at times like that.”

As Askren continued to look around, seeing buildings destroyed, cars thrown around like toys, trees uprooted and houses of his friends’ friends ripped apart, he decided to ask his boss, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney, if the promotion could find a way to do something to help.

“It just blows your mind,” Askren said. “You see it on TV, but you could never really imagine until you actually go there. So I texted Bjorn and said, ‘Hey, it would be nice if we could do something for all these people.'”

Rebney, though, didn’t have any quick answers.

“He said, ‘What can we do? Can I do something?’ Rebney said. “He was just reaching out asking what could be done. And I said, ‘I don’t know, buddy. I don’t know what we can do.'”

Admittedly, Rebney said, coming up with a plan for the people of Joplin “fell off the radar screen” over the summer. But earlier this fall, when the promotion finalized the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla., a short drive from Joplin, for Saturday’s Bellator 53, a plan finally got put into place – when Askren again reached out and was adamant in his desire to try to make a contribution.

Friday night, Bellator and Buffalo Run Casino will give away 300 tickets to Saturday’s show to Joplin residents at Joplin High School’s homecoming football game. For those still trying to rebuild the lives they knew before May 22, it won’t change anything. But a temporary reprieve might help, even for just one night.

“I just hope the people that were affected can have some enjoyment for one night of fighting that Bellator’s going to put on,” Askren said. “It’s not a huge gesture. It’s not like we’re rebuilding their houses. But every small thing helps.”

“It’s a great thing to do,” Rebney said. “It’s not going to change the dynamic of anybody’s life in Joplin, but the people have been through a lot here. It’s an opportunity to kind of kick back and forget about your issues for four or five hours.”

Rebney said it was Askren’s perseverance in wanting to find a way to give something to the people of Joplin that ultimately got the plan rolling, and started Bellator down the community service path, really for the first time.

“Thank God we haven’t been in communities where something as tragic as what happened here happened before,” Rebney said. “But this was more about Ben Askren reaching out. He was the guy really pushing it. He called me, I didn’t have an answer, and he just stayed on it.”

Rebney said Askren, who defends his welterweight title later this month at Bellator 56 against Jay Hieron, proved to him he has talents that extend beyond the cage, and that his strength of character is typical of many MMA athletes.

“It gives me a sense of pride that we’re lucky enough to have a guy like Ben on our roster who isn’t thinking of himself, who isn’t doing it for any kind of sponsorship angle,” Rebney said. “He was just calling me, saying, ‘Dude, what can we do? How can we help? Can I do something? Can we do something? Big or small, it doesn’t matter.’ There’s more of that in the MMA industry than people realize. It’s a real good feeling, and I’m proud we have Ben on the roster – he’s an amazing talent, and I think he’s the best wrestler in mixed martial arts. But he’s also a very good dude, and that counts for a lot.”

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments