(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?
Filed under: BellatorWhen Viacom purchased Bellator Fighting Championships, it was a strong sign that the promotion has a good chance to survive as America’s No. 2 mixed martial arts promotion. Now Bellator is looking at expanding globally as well.
When Viacom purchased Bellator Fighting Championships, it was a strong sign that the promotion has a good chance to survive as America’s No. 2 mixed martial arts promotion. Now Bellator is looking at expanding globally as well.
“I’m really trying to expand this brand into international markets,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMAFighting.com. “I’ve always believed since I started watching MMA that this sport was a very easy sport to grasp and understand — the most basic level of sports competition — one man vs. another man in a world class competition. So my vision has been building up enough presence domestically so we can start to expand internationally.”
Toward that end, Bellator is announcing on Monday a deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises to represent its international TV distribution rights. FremantleMedia has operations in 22 countries and is involved in distributing nearly 10,000 hours of TV programming around the world every year.
“What this really means is we’ve got the foremost partner in the space out there helping us build this brand from an international perspective,” Rebney said. “Domestically I’ve been clear that we’ve got the greatest domestic partner you could have from a television perspective. But now internationally we’ve got them looking to disseminate Bellator content into every single country.”
Rebney said he thinks getting on TV channels around the world will help Bellator attract fans from outside North America, as well as compete for the best international MMA talent. He also said he can see Bellator doing international events in Brazil or Europe, although he said the logistics would be difficult to do an overseas show as one of Bellator’s weekly seasonal events.
“We’ll be able to really expand the power and breadth of the marketing machine,” Rebney said. “We’re three years old and have never done those things, but now that we have a partner like Fremantle we can start that development process. You’ll see more Bellator licensed products, both domestically and internationally. You’ll see more home entertainment, video on demand options in Bellator.”
As you’d expect from a promoter, Rebney is bullish on what can be expected from Bellator going forward.
“The working relationship with Viacom is spectacular,” Rebney said. “This is another very powerful, very large, very well-connected corporate entity that’s very invested in the Bellator brand in mixed martial arts.”
MMAFighting.com also caught up with Rebney for some other questions and answers regarding issues facing Bellator.
Michael David Smith: Ben Askren beat Jay Hieron in a very close split decision to retain the Bellator welterweight title. Would you consider booking an immediate rematch between the two of them? Bjorn Rebney: I thought it was a great fight. The reason I went out and signed Jay Hieron was because I thought he was a world-class fighter who had never been given his shot. The key selling point I had with Jay was that if you come here you’ll have a clear path to the title. He got it, he bought into it, Ben faced the best fighter he has faced thus far in his career. I thought Ben won the fight. I think the world of Jay Hieron and it would be my pleasure to have him back in another tournament and give him another shot at fighting either Ben Askren or the Ben Saunders-Douglas Lima winner, whoever of them might beat Ben Askren. But I don’t give anyone a title shot. Guys earn a title shot in Bellator. So I’m not going to deviate from what’s made Bellator unique, and that is that you earn it. Jay got super close, and it was a great fight, but the judges decided Ben won the fight, and if Jay wants another shot he’ll come back and earn it.
Are you worried that the tournament format makes your champions too inactive? For instance, Eddie Alvarez likes to stay active, but he’s only fought once this year and twice last year. No, but I’m taking steps right now to increase the frequency of our world title defenses. If you look at other champions you see they typically will defend their titles twice in a year and we’re in a position where champions defend their titles twice in a year, but I would like to increase that frequency. So I’m working with our partners at Spike on an adjustment to the format that will allow us to put more tournaments in each season — not to change the tournaments, but to increase the number of tournaments so we can more regularly provide challengers who have earned the right to fight our champions. Of all the things we’ve done format wise, the only thing that wasn’t as good as I wanted was the superfights. It wasn’t an optimal situation in terms of how it should work in a perfect world, which is the guys should be defending their titles every time they step in the cage. That’s what we’re working on now.
Is Michael Chandler a good enough challenge for Alvarez? And what do you see in Alvarez’s future? I think Mike Chandler is a freak. He’s an absolute monster. His maturation in the game, and his progression as a mixed martial artist, is more prolific than anyone I’ve seen over the last three years. He’s a champion wrestler, who showed in his standup with Patricky Pitbull that he’s a beast. He trains at an amazing camp with Randy Couture in Vegas and he’s an absolute beast. I think Eddie is the best 155-pounder on earth but I think Chandler will be one of the toughest opponents of his career. People will be shocked at how competitive that fight will be.
Is Eddie Alvarez going to fight Shinya Aoki next? It’s signed to happen. The issue becomes what happens in Ed’s fight with Mike. Contingent upon the outcome of that fight, it’s scheduled to happen in the first quarter of 2012. The folks we’re working with it at Dream say they’re ready to move forward for it but we have to see how Ed does in his fight with Mike, although Ed losing his title to Mike wouldn’t preclude him from fighting Aoki.
Lorenzo Fertitta recently predicted that you guys would end up on pay-per-view. Do you think that will happen? I didn’t see that. There’s a potential that we could end up on pay-per-view but our model right now is great because we don’t have to get to pay-per-view for our business model to work. Pay-per-view is a difficult model to get to, but hard-core fans of MMA know when pay-per-view is warranted. I don’t believe we’re there yet but I believe there’s the potential for us to get there. The transition to Spike is an amazing step — they’re the name in MMA on TV. I don’t know when pay-per-view will occur, but it could occur in the future.
When will Season 6 start? First quarter of 2012. We don’t have a date yet, we’ll take some time off after our last fight of this season on November 26 and then get ready to roll.
Which weight classes will you do in Season 6? We’ll definitely have 155, 145 for sure, probably 205 as well because our team has got some amazing signings at light heavyweight, and then we’ll figure it out after that. The question is whether we’ll do four, five or six tournaments next season.
What do you see as the future of women’s MMA in Bellator? It definitely has a future. It’s definitely something we talk about, strategize on and plan for. We’ve got Jessica Aguilar fighting Lisa Ward coming up. I don’t know if Season 6 will see a women’s tournament but we’ll definitely put women’s fights together. Depth is an issue with eight-woman tournaments — the depth across a weight class isn’t one of women’s MMA’s strengths.
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.
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)
After 25 minutes of action, Ben Askren is still Bellator‘s welterweight champion.
Askren defeated Jay Hieron by split decision on Saturday night, keeping the Bellator welterweight belt but not satisfying himself with his performance.
“I’m not pleased at all — I’m supposed to be getting better,” Askren said afterward. “In no way did I dominate Jay like I wanted to and that’s why I’m disappointed. The judges could have gone either way on this one.”
Although he’s a great wrestler, Askren knows he’s not a complete enough fighter to put himself on the same level as the truly elite in the sport, and he acknowledged as much after escaping with the win over Hieron.
“My goal is to be the best fighter in the world and I wasn’t that tonight — I wasn’t even close,” Askren said.
Saturday night’s Bellator card also featured the two semifinal fights in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament, and both of them ended very quickly.
In one heavyweight semifinal, Eric Prindle knocked out Ron Sparks with a brutal left hook just 40 seconds into the first round. Prindle sent Sparks face-first into the canvas with the punch and landed a couple more shots on the ground before referee Chuck Wolfe jumped in to stop the fight (accidentally kneeing Sparks in the face in the process). In the other heavyweight semifinal, Thiago Santos needed just 38 seconds to submit Neil Grove, landing a big shot on the feet and forcing a tap with a rear-naked choke on the ground.
Prindle and Santos will fight next month, with a shot at Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad on the line.
Ben Askren entered Bellator’s season two welterweight tournament with little more than a world class wrestling pedigree, a 3-0 MMA record and a talent that many fight promotions may have, in hindsight, undervalued. The brass at Bellator Fighting C…
Ben Askren entered Bellator’s season two welterweight tournament with little more than a world class wrestling pedigree, a 3-0 MMA record and a talent that many fight promotions may have, in hindsight, undervalued.
The brass at Bellator Fighting Championships instantly recognized what Askren could bring to the table for their organization. The investment they made in an inexperienced fighter has paid off ten fold.
This Saturday night, over a year later, “Funky” Ben Askren will enter the Bellator cage with a record that stands at 8-0. With him he will bring that absolutely devastating grappling game a BJJ purple belt and an ever evolving striking game.
Most importantly, Askren will bring into the cage with him the Bellator welterweight strap, which he now looks to defend against a crafty and dangerous MMA veteran Jay Hieron. Askren has been on quite a roll inside the Bellator cage, and this will mark his first title defense.
To defeat Jay Hieron, he will have to be the best Ben Askren he has ever been. And, after having transitioned to the world renowned Roufusport camp, where some of the game’s greatest talents call home, Askren feels confident that he has indeed become the best he can be.
While the title will be his greatest motivation when he takes his corner on fight night, this upcoming bout between Hieron and Askren has seen its share of bad blood boil over between the two welterweight combatants.
Askren sat down and spoke with Todd Jackson of Hurtsbad MMA to discuss his opponent, his progress as a fighter and where he sees himself among all welterweights in the sport of MMA. As for his opponent, Askren pulled no punches and has lost no love when it comes to Xtreme Couture’s Jay Hieron.
The champ told Hurtsbad MMA, “He just kind of rubs me the wrong way. I guess people could say this about me too, but he just comes off with the ‘my [expletive] doesn’t stink’ kind of thing, like he is better than other people. I just really don’t like that type of mentality.”
And while bad blood is what it is, Askren does see potential threats posed by Hieron, but overall did not sound impressed with his opponent. “He has a strong wrestling background. He has some pretty good stand up. But from what I see, he doesn’t really excel in any certain area except his wrestling, which becomes null and void due to my level of wrestling.”
Askren has finished half of his opponents while defeating the other half by decision. When it comes to Hieron, he shared his thoughts on the possibility of ending his night early.
Askren said, “I think I will finish him. But, at the same time, I’m going to let the fight run its course. I’m not going to try to force something that isn’t there and go out there and make a stupid mistake and maybe lose to someone like him when it’s not necessary.”
The champ added, “I think I have the ability to finish Jay and I think I will, but I’m not going to go out there swinging for the fences like some kind of clown.”
Askren is known for his wrestling, which he feels is a clear cut advantage over Hieron. Hieron is known to be a grinding type of fighter who will drag fighters into the deep waters, so surely Askren expects his wrestling to play a big part in this fight.
With his wrestling prowess being a given, Askren realizes that to excel in this game it takes an entire MMA package. Training under Duke Roufus, he feels he is well on his way to becoming that package.
Askren talked about his transition back to Wisconsin to train at Roufusport. “The main reason I moved back to this area is because I knew how good of a coach Duke Roufus was. He just does a great job with all of his fighters. On top of that, they’re progressive.”
Askren went on to explain, “They know it’s mixed martial arts, they know it’s not kickboxing, they know it’s not boxing, not wrestling, not jiu jitsu, it’s mixed martial arts. They know it’s everything combined and they are on the cutting edge of that.”
The pedigree of the stable of fighters competing out of that camp speaks for itself. Askren is proud to represent that. “They have a bunch of young hungry fighters who want to be the best. We are a very tight team, we practice every single day together and we all help each other out.”
Working out under Roufus holds many benefits for a champion looking to sharpen every weapon he carries, especially the striking game. “Duke’s camp is a perfect camp for me, because where I struggled was in my stand up. The have great coaching here for stand up, and then every single day we spar I have to go up against some of the best stand up fighters in MMA, some of the most cutting edge stand up fighters in MMA.”
Askren offered the obvious examples of warriors he bangs it out with daily. “Whether it’s Alan Belcher, Anthony Pettis, Danny Downs or Eric Koch. They all have good kicks, punches, knees and good elbows. They’re not one dimensional stand up fighters, they have everything. That really helps get me prepared for anything I have to face inside the cage.”
Even with the understanding of his need to constantly move forward and improve in every aspect of MMA, Askren feels confident in his place among the best welterweight fighters in the world. Competing in a division with names like Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz, Askren feels he is right up there with the best in the game.
The champ explained, “I really think I can compete with anyone in the world. Obviously I haven’t been given a chance to prove that yet, but in time I will be given that chance. I will show everyone that I am one of the best fighters in the world at my weight.”
“I know that I’m a very tough and threatening matchup for anybody.”
Anyone who has seen this guy put it down, knows that he indeed can smother and control anyone he fights at will. He can manipulate and dictate where a fight takes place, which is a key element of any MMA bout. His chin has been tested and passed so far, and his hands are being honed with some of the best in the business.
So go ahead and argue with the man if you like, but it is extremely hard to say with a straight face that his formula inside the cage is not working. To say that he is indeed one of the best in the world, and could compete as such given the opportunity, is no stretch whatsoever.
Standing ready to face the toughest test of his career, Askren sounds confident and ready to prove that he is one of the best, and he can and will put his money where his mouth is.
The series continues with the welterweights in this edition, as many of the top 10 were seen in recent action.With Bellator’s welterweight tournament nearing it’s end, we’ve gotten a good grasp of where the entrants stand, and how they stack up with th…
The series continues with the welterweights in this edition, as many of the top 10 were seen in recent action.
With Bellator’s welterweight tournament nearing it’s end, we’ve gotten a good grasp of where the entrants stand, and how they stack up with the international talent featured by promotions such as KSW and M-1 Global.
Where does your favorite non-Zuffa welterweight stand?
When Viacom purchased 
After 25 minutes of action, 
Ben Askren entered Bellator’s season two welterweight tournament with little more than a world class wrestling pedigree, a 3-0