It’s been seven years since Jay Hieron was last in the UFC. In that time, he’s done and seen just about everything else in MMA.
The Freeport, Long Island native has been in seven other fight promotions, some of which no longer exist like the IFL and Affliction. He’s been a champion. He’s won a Bellator tournament. He nearly got a title shot in Strikeforce against Nick Diaz.
“Everybody’s career is different,” Hieron told The Post. “Mine just happened to go different avenues.”
To say the least. But Hieron is back in the UFC now for the first time since 2005. The 36-year-old welterweight, still regarded as one of the best 170-pounders in the world, meets Jake Ellenberger in the co-main event at UFC on FX 5 on Friday night in Minneapolis, Minn.
“I’ve had title shots for other organizations, but I always wanted to come back to the UFC,” Hieron said. “I had chances to go back again, but timing wise I had better opportunities.”
One of those came last year in Bellator. He entered the company’s fourth season welterweight tournament and won it, earning a shot at champion Ben Askren. Hieron lost to Askren last October by split decision, but many thought he won.
As it turned out, he did win – just not according to the judges. Had he become Bellator champion, he wouldn’t be in the UFC right now. His contract would have gotten automatically renewed with Bellator.
“Even when I was with Bellator, I wanted to be in UFC,” Hieron said. “At the time it was the quickest shot to a title.”
Beating Ellenberger would put him in the mix among UFC welterweight title contenders. He’s already beaten Ellenberger, but that was in 2006 in the IFL.
Hieron is 0-2 in the UFC and both losses come with a caveat. The first time was to current welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, regarded as one of the best MMA fighters ever. The second, more than a year later, was via a doctor’s stoppage (cut) against Jonathan Goulet.
With some of that bad luck behind him, he’s happy to be getting another chance with the UFC.
“This is the perfect timing for this fight,” Hieron said. “I think everything happens for a reason. I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my career.”
The majority of those came before is MMA began. Hieron was kicked off the Hofstra wrestling team his senior year due to marijuana use. The incident sent him on what he calls a “downward spiral.” Hieron started dealing drugs and was arrested. He spent a few weeks in jail and vowed to turn his life around.
Hieron didn’t know it at the time, but the kickboxing training he was doing to relieve stress would end up being a gateway. That combined with his Division I collegiate wrestling pedigree landed him in a cage as a professional fighter.
“That right there woke me up,” he said of his arrest. “I don’t want to be in jail, I said to myself. “This ain’t for me. I can’t do this no more.”
Hieron (23-5) lives in Las Vegas now and trains at Xtreme Couture, the gym run by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. But he still describes himself as “still a New Yorker to the bone.” His family is still here and his accent is unmistakable. This weekend he plans on watching his beloved Yankees in the playoffs on TV.
Hieron doesn’t expect to be doing that after a loss either.
“I think I have my best fights ahead of me,” he said.