Jay Hieron scored a solid victory Saturday night over Joe Riggs but it wasn’t the guy he wanted to beat. The welterweight, fighting out of Las Vegas, spent much of 2009 chasing Nick Diaz. Diaz is regarded as Strikeforce’s top welterweight and officially picked up the Strikeforce 170-pound hardware Saturday with a win over Marius Zaromskis. It had to eat away at Hieron, who was promised a title shot, beginning in the middle of 2009.
"Diaz didn’t want to fight me. [He didn’t say that but] the fight
was presented three times on the table. We never fought," Hieron said. "I signed the
contract every time. The first time, five days out he didn’t go to take the drug
test. The next fight, we were scheduled for the CBS fight. Diaz turned
up missing. He was on a milk carton. ‘Where’s Diaz at?’ That gives me
the impression he didn’t want to fight me."
Now Hieron’s contract is up and he has to weigh his options.
"I did everything they asked me. The title shot should definitely be me right now. I won tonight, Diaz won tonight. Let’s see what happens. Good thing about it, is I have options."
Hieron (19-4), got one fight in the UFC back in 2004 at UFC 48 but that was against Georges St. Pierre. He’s been waiting for a call-back to big show since. Now he has to decide if he can trust Showtime/Strikeforce to deliver Diaz or opt for the stability of the UFC.
Much of Hieron’s frustration also has to do with constantly being bumped from television broadcasts in 2008, 2009 and even Saturday. His fight against Riggs was available only via web stream.
"By all means, me and Joe Riggs [32-12] have proved ourself in the
sport. That fight tonight was great," he said. "Trust me, I’m on TV and everything. I’m losing money being on
undercards, bro. I’m not an undercard fighter."
Hieron, who says if he signs with Strikeforce the contract will have strict demands, hopes to sit down this week with agent Ken Pavia and formulate a gameplan. He’s a winner with either option and has a chance to become a legit top 10 fighter at 170 with a few more big wins.