Hieron just wants to fight
Jay Hieron was tossing and turning on Friday night. It happened again! The poor guy trained for weeks to ready himself for a fight and it looked like he did it all for nothing. Hieron was one of scheduled fighters on the Affliction Oct. 11 card. When that event was canceled, the former IFL champ was left without a fight until Kim Couture put together Night of Combat II. Then Hieron found out late Friday that his opponent Bryson Kamaka couldn't fight (rumors of positive drug test). The promoters scrambed and found Hieron a fill-in, Chris Kennedy.
Hieron dominated the fight for his 16th win, clearing the way for potential matchups against the likes of EliteXC welterweight champ Jake Shields, Nick Thompson or Nick Diaz.
In other bouts, Hector Ramirez won the main event by decision over Rick Roufus. Mike Pyle, another Affliction card victim, submitted Brian Gassaway. Elena 'Baby Doll' Reid knocked out Stephanie Palmer. Palmer from Alabama stepped up on short notice. For more evidence that women fighters are treated like garbage, Palmer took the fight but asked if the Night of Combat II folks were going to fly her to Las Vegas and provide a room. They said, "of course." Good news, she wasn't forced to sleep outside the Thomas & Mack!
Josh Haynes, a finalist from The Ultimate Fighter 3, beat Sean Salmon with an achilles lock in the second round. The fight of the night nearly came about outside the ring following John Alessio's KO of Gideon Ray. The normally composed Ray nearly went into the crowd when Alessio's sister was cheering loudly. Ray threw his mouthpiece into the crowd and hit someone. He was then restrained from going into the stands.
