Jay Hieron passes the Gauntlet, Eyes Nick Diaz

Originally posted on MMAweekly.com

If you can find a high-level fighter who’s had more career ups and downs than Strikeforce welterweight contender Jay Hieron, let him know. He’s tired of carrying the mantle.

It was one thing after another leading up to his debut at Saturday’s “Carano vs. Cyborg”: Affliction folding, Nick Diaz tuning in and dropping out, a more-than solid Jesse Taylor stepping in on a week’s notice. More than enough to distract, and it wasn’t even counting the turbulence since last June when the International Fight League (IFL) folded and left Hieron without a job.

Until the day of the weigh-ins for Carano vs. Cyborg, he didn’t know if he’d get any of the money his sponsors promised him for the fight. The commitments were made when Diaz was the opponent and the bout was on TV. On the undercard, sponsors Full Tilt, Everlast, EA Sports, and Xtreme Couture didn’t want to pony up.

“I was stressing because I wasn’t going to get paid,” said Hieron. “When I first got there, I was like, what the hell, I’m not on the main card? I guess Showtime didn’t want to speak about the Diaz situation.”

Hieron had gone through the exact same situation in January, when his bout with Jason High was shuffled to follow the main event of Affliction's "Day of Reckoning."

Click here to read the entire article on MMAweekly.com