Bellator Completes 8-Man Welterweight Field
Brian Knapp Jan 20, 2011
UFC veteran and former International Fight League champion Jay Hieron on
Thursday was made official as the final entrant in the Bellator
Fighting Championships Season 4 welterweight tournament.
Hieron (Pictured) joins former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good, Season 2 finalist Dan Hornbuckle, Team Rough House veteran “Judo” Jim Wallhead, Season 2 semi-finalist Steve Carl, undefeated Olympic judoka Rick Hawn, unbeaten knockout artist Chris Lozano and the surging Brent Weedman in the eight-man draw.
The winner of the tournament will receive a crack at reigning
Bellator welterweight titleholder Ben Askren,
along with a $100,000 payday. Based at Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial
Arts in Las Vegas, Hieron figures to enter the tournament as one of
the favorites.
“Jay’s the perfect fighter to round out our stacked welterweight tournament,” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a release. “He’s a true mixed martial artist who has very few weaknesses and a ton of strengths inside the cage. Jay will be a tremendous test for anyone and everyone in this talent-rich tournament.”
Hieron will carry a seven-fight winning streak into his promotional debut, likely against Carl on March 5. The 34-year-old last appeared under the Strikeforce banner in January 2010, when he defeated fellow UFC veteran Joe Riggs by unanimous decision at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. A well-rounded competitor, Hieron owns notable victories against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 semi-finalist Jesse Taylor, 2009 Dream welterweight grand prix finalist Jason High, former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Delson Heleno and UFC veteran Jake Ellenberger.
“I feel great right now. I turned a negative into a positive with my time off and just took the opportunity to sharpen my skills,” Hieron said. “When you’re training for a fight, the pressure’s on, so it’s hard to learn and evolve. It’s straight business. With this time off, I’ve been able to focus on a lot of new techniques. Now, I’m just excited to get back in there and show off my new arsenal.”
Hieron has secured more than half (11) of his 19 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The New York native has not tasted defeat in nearly four years and favors Bellator’s tournament format.
“This is the exact type of situation I wanted to be in right now. With the tournament format, there’s no politics, no golden boys and nobody getting protected; there’s none of that. If you win, you move forward, and that’s that. That’s the bottom line, and that’s exactly what I was looking for,” Hieron said. “I feel like I’ve been through as bad a situation that somebody can go through in their career, and I’m still here. Not only that, but my body’s right, I'm healthy, and I feel like it’s my time.”
Hieron (Pictured) joins former Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good, Season 2 finalist Dan Hornbuckle, Team Rough House veteran “Judo” Jim Wallhead, Season 2 semi-finalist Steve Carl, undefeated Olympic judoka Rick Hawn, unbeaten knockout artist Chris Lozano and the surging Brent Weedman in the eight-man draw.
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“Jay’s the perfect fighter to round out our stacked welterweight tournament,” Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a release. “He’s a true mixed martial artist who has very few weaknesses and a ton of strengths inside the cage. Jay will be a tremendous test for anyone and everyone in this talent-rich tournament.”
Hieron will carry a seven-fight winning streak into his promotional debut, likely against Carl on March 5. The 34-year-old last appeared under the Strikeforce banner in January 2010, when he defeated fellow UFC veteran Joe Riggs by unanimous decision at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. A well-rounded competitor, Hieron owns notable victories against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 7 semi-finalist Jesse Taylor, 2009 Dream welterweight grand prix finalist Jason High, former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Delson Heleno and UFC veteran Jake Ellenberger.
“I feel great right now. I turned a negative into a positive with my time off and just took the opportunity to sharpen my skills,” Hieron said. “When you’re training for a fight, the pressure’s on, so it’s hard to learn and evolve. It’s straight business. With this time off, I’ve been able to focus on a lot of new techniques. Now, I’m just excited to get back in there and show off my new arsenal.”
Hieron has secured more than half (11) of his 19 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The New York native has not tasted defeat in nearly four years and favors Bellator’s tournament format.
“This is the exact type of situation I wanted to be in right now. With the tournament format, there’s no politics, no golden boys and nobody getting protected; there’s none of that. If you win, you move forward, and that’s that. That’s the bottom line, and that’s exactly what I was looking for,” Hieron said. “I feel like I’ve been through as bad a situation that somebody can go through in their career, and I’m still here. Not only that, but my body’s right, I'm healthy, and I feel like it’s my time.”
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