Tournament Format Lured Hieron to Bellator

“This is my job, my full-time job. If you’re not fighting, you’re not getting paid,” Hieron (Pictured) said recently during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “I love to fight too. First, what you love to do, you’re not doing, and then you’re not getting paid. This is my income. No food on the table.”

After struggling to get fights with Strikeforce, Hieron signed with Bellator to compete in the upcoming season’s eight-man welterweight tournament. He expects the format to keep him busy throughout the year.

“I feel definitely right now that’s the type of style I want to be fighting is tournaments,” Hieron said. “I want to fight as much as possible. … That’s why it was a big reason for me to go with Bellator: a lot of fights. Some guys don’t like it. They like to take time off after their fights and do whatever they have to do. I’m back in the gym. I like to train. I like to fight. It’s a great situation for me.”

Hieron meets Anthony Lapsley when the tournament kicks off Saturday in Lemoore, Calif. He had been scheduled to fight Steve Carl, but he shrugged off the opponent switch.

“We’re in the hurt business,” Hieron said. “It happens all the time. For me it was good because I had a couple of weeks to think about a different opponent. Sometimes it happens the week of. I’ve had an opponent change the week of the fight. I’ve had enough time.”

At this point, Hieron just wants to get back in the cage. In his most recent fight, he outpointed Joe Riggs on Jan. 30 last year for his seventh straight win. He doesn’t think the layoff will hurt him.

“I live in the gym,” Hieron said. “Training for me is a lifestyle. I don’t just train when I have a fight. I’m always in the gym sharpening up my skills. It’s not going to affect me at all. I’m ready to go. I’ve been ready the whole year. I haven’t fought, but I’ve just been getting better and working on everything.”

Hieron is considered a tournament favorite. He dismissed the odds, though, as well as discussion of any tournament opponents other than Lapsley. As someone who’s been stuck on the sidelines, Hieron is taking it one fight at a time.

“I’ve been through everything in my career,” he said. “Everybody’s always asking me how do I get through it. First and foremost, I’m doing what I love to do. Everything other than that, it’s a blessing. I’m just blessed to be fighting again. This last year was hard for me. I went through a lot of things within fighting and within my personal life. I’m here, I’m back, I’m still around. I’m healthy and I get to do what I love to do.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:30:20) with Hieron.