Hieron Completes Bellator Season 4 Welterweight Tournament
Jan 20, 2011
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron today has been
officially confirmed as the last, but certainly not the least, 170
lbs. fighter in Bellator’s upcoming Season 4 Welterweight
Tournament which is set to air LIVE on MTV2. The highly regarded
UFC, IFL and Strikeforce veteran will enter the talent-rich
tournament looking for a shot at current Bellator Welterweight
Champion Ben Askren coupled with a $100,000 pay day for his 90 days
work. But, first Hieron will first have to make his way through
arguably the most talented welterweight tournament in MMA to date.
“Jay’s the perfect fighter to round out our stacked welterweight
tournament,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “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.” The Xtreme Couture
trained fighter has not lost a fight in over three years and is
currently riding a seven-fight win streak. Hieron enters the
welterweight tournament with an impressive 19-4 professional record
and holds notable victories over the likes of UFC veteran Jake
Ellenberger, UFC/DREAM veteran Jason High, and newly signed
Bellator middleweight Joe “Diesel” Riggs. Eager to return to the
cage for the first time in just over a year, Hieron promises a
better version of “The Thoroughbred” than ever before under the
Bellator banner in 2011. “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,” said Hieron. “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.” Growing up near Long
Island, New York, Hieron found an outlet for his aggression through
high school and college wrestling. Years later, Hieron now finds
himself as one of the most dangerous fighters in MMA's welterweight
division. Looking toward the next chapter of his MMA career, Hieron
says that Bellator's unique tournament format is just what he's
been searching for. “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,” said
Hieron. “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 joins former Bellator Welterweight World Champion
Lyman Good, Season 2 finalist Dan Hornbuckle, undefeated Judo
Olympian Rick Hawn, Season 2 semifinalist Steve Carl, undefeated
knockout artist Chris Lozano, UK standout “Judo” Jim Wallhead, and
fast-rising finisher Brent Weedman in the Bellator Season 4
Welterweight Tournament which will be aired LIVE on MTV2. For more
information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter
@BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator About
Bellator Fighting Championships Bellator Fighting Championships is
a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago.
Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting
sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the
purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator
Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry
professionals in the areas of live event production, television
production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship
creation/development, international licensing, marketing,
advertising, publicity and commission relations.