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Jay Hieron just finished up putting a another one in the win column. He’s essentially a free agent now (with exclusive negotiating and right to match periods), and he’s not sure if he’ll re-sign with Strikeforce or make a move to the UFC.  Both are options, but he’s just going to sit back and wait for his manager to negotiate deals and pick the one that makes the most sense for him. He still wants that elusive title fight with Nick Diaz, but doesn’t think Nick wants to fight him (he doesn’t). One thing’s for sure though, he believes he’s put in his time and deserves to be fighting on the televised card, and I couldn’t agree more. Here’s to hoping Hieron finally gets what he’s earned.

Video via Cagewriter

Now that Nick Diaz is the Strikeforce welterweight champ, he wants big fights. He wants to fight guys who are “important.” He wants his name out there and he wants to get paid. What he doesn’t want is to fight any of the best available opponents for him in Strikeforce.

Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani caught up with the winners and losers of last night’s Strikeforce ‘Miami’ event. Also, Showtime and Strikeforce have post-fight interviews to check out on their YouTube channels.

Strikeforce “Miami” is currently underway at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Marloes Coenen, Robbie Lawler, Matt Hughes*, Bobby Lashley, Herschel Walker, Greg Nagy, Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs to talk about their upcoming fights at Strikeforce “Miami.”

* Matt Hughes is cornering Robbie Lawler, but also talked about fighting Renzo Gracie

Jay Hieron tells RawVegas.tv he’s more than ready to get back in the cage this weekend against Joe Riggs at Strikeforce “Miami.” You won’t see it on Showtime, but you can watch it live on EASports.com at 9:00 PM ET.

“This is still a good fight for me. Riggs has a great name and he’s fought on all the big shows. At this point, all I want to do is fight big-name guys. Riggs qualifies as that. This fight is very important for me and I’m not going to worry about Diaz or the title or anyone else until after this fight is over…There have been no shortcuts for me and it hasn’t been an easy road and I haven’t had a lot of lucky breaks. I’ve had to take the hard road and work my way to this point. There have been a lot of obstacles in my way, but overcoming those obstacles helped me to become who I am…Randy has one of the great mental games in sports. I’ve picked up a lot from him and the one thing I know for sure I have to do is concentrate completely on what is in front of me. Right now, that’s Joe Riggs. If you want to talk to me about title shots or anything else, do it after [my fight with] Riggs. I’m in great shape and in a great frame of mind and I’m 100 percent ready for Joe Riggs and I have no concern about anything else.”

—Jay Hieron telling Kevin Iole he’s putting his promised title shot on the back burner to focus on his upcoming fight against Joe Riggs

There you have it. Jay Hieron isn’t going to bitch and whine about not getting the title shot against Nick Diaz Strikeforce promised him back when he signed with them last summer. He’s putting his head down and concentrating on taking out Joe Riggs so Strikeforce will have no choice but to give him the Diaz-Zaromskis winner. If he beats Riggs, he deserves it. It’s that simple.

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime

Looks like we finally have our answer on Jay Hieron’s promised title shot. According to Scott Coker, before they knew Nick Diaz would be fighting on the Strikeforce “Miami” card, they offered Hieron the fight against Marius Zaromskis, but Hieron’s agent, Ken Pavia, turned it down. With their DREAM alliance, they had to put Zaromskis in a title fight since he’s the DREAM welterweight champion, so ultimately Hieron was the odd man out when he turned the Zaromskis fight down and ended up with Joe Riggs instead. If he beats Riggs he’s supposed to get the Diaz-Zaromskis winner.