Full Interview

Jay Hieron started wrestling at the age of fourteen.  He wrestled through high school and became the Junior College National Champion at Nassau Community College.   After going through a rough period, Hieron turned to boxing to get his frustrations out.  He started working with Phil Baroni who was an already accomplished mixed martial artist.  In 2004, Hieron decided two things: that New York was not a good environment for him anymore and Las Vegas was the mixed martial arts capital of the world.

After Affliction folded, Hieron fielded offers from both the UFC and Strikeforce.  Hieron's said, "The UFC came in with a great offer, they stepped up money wise.  They were going to honor my Affliction contract.  But Strikeforce came to the table with an immediate title shot which lead to me signing with Strikeforce."

But that title fight didn't happen.  Nick Diaz withdrew from the fight after no-showing a pre-fight drug test and Hieron instead went on to fight former "Ultimate Fighter" contestant Jesse Taylor.  While the fight with Taylor became a non-title fight, it was still scheduled to be on apart of the live broadcast.  Unfortunately for Hieron, a last minute decision was made and his fight with Taylor was relegated to the unaired preliminary card.

This was the second straight fight that Hieron's fans would not see.   Hieron gave his thoughts on the possible mistreatment by Strikeforce.  "Yeah man unfortunately it is the hurt business not only physically but mentally.  I believe I am a top ten fighter, yet no one knows about me.  I can't get a fight on tv.  People ask me all the time how I do it, how I go through all this stuff, and I tell them I believe it makes me stronger.  I go day-by-day and I train and bust my butt and hopefully something will open up."

Unfortunately for Hieron, Strikeforce doesn't know what is going on with Diaz or when Hieron will fight next.  "Really I am getting frustrated now.  I ask Strikeforce on a weekly basis when am I going to fight and they don't know nothing."

But Hieron stays positive and knows that his hard work will payoff.  It's hard not to stay positive when he trains out of Xtreme Couture.  "The best thing about training at Xtreme Couture is we have a great core group of guys who have been training together for about four years now.  Everyone has each other's back.  We don't go in with egos, we just want to help each other get better."