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Following both fighters success at the Strikeforce: Miami event, rumors began to swell that a fight between champion Nick Diaz and contender Jay Hieron would be coming up soon. However, two roadblocks soon got in that way of the path of the potential Strikeforce championship fight. Those two roadblocks are Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz and the contract status of Jay Hieron.
When asked about a potential title defense against Jay Hieron, Nick Diaz has stated that he doesn’t feel he should defend the title against a “preliminary card fighter.†The reasoning behind that statement from Nick Diaz is that both of Jay Hieron’s Strikeforce victories, over both Jesse Taylor and Joe Riggs, both occurred on the preliminary card at Strikeforce events.
While the statement about Jay Hieron never competing on a televised fight during a Strikeforce telecast is certainly true, the fact is, there has been multiple title fights in Strikeforce where the title challengers never competed on a televised card either. Fighters like Marloes Coenen, Rodrigo Damm, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Gegard Mousasi and Jason Miller have all had title opportunities without previously appearing on a Strikeforce televised card fight.
The other previously mentioned roadblock is the contract of Jay Hieron, which was fulfilled when Jay Hieron fought on the Strikeforce: Miami preliminary card this past January. Jay Hieron joined the Strikeforce promotion after the Affliction MMA promotion, which the fighter was contracted to, closed down after two pay-per-view events last year.
One could potentially think that the only way that Jay Hieron would resign with the Strikeforce promotion, is that the fighter is guaranteed a title fight against Nick Diaz. Also, one would have to think that with the lack of top contenders to the Strikeforce Welterweight Title currently within the Strikeforce promotion, Jay Hieron would be considered a forerunner for a title shot.
Along with the pending discussion of Jay Hieron’s potential resigning with Strikeforce is one other potent question that needs to be asked. That question simply is, will Jay Hieron resign with Strikeforce, when there are so many other options out there. If your Jay Hieron, other promotions like the UFC, WEC, DREAM, Bellator Fighting Championships, Shine Fights, Sengoku, M-1 Global and others must be willing to sign the MMA veteran.
As the question in the headline of the column asked, is Jay Hieron the top contender to Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz? The obvious answer would be “yesâ€, but is that due to the fighter himself or due to the lack of actually contenders within the promotion itself?
You can contact David Tees at You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
