Paul Daley vs Jay Hieron possible at third Affliction event rumored for August 1

A fantastic welterweight match up between the last reigning Cage Rage and International Fight League (IFL) 170-pound champions, Paul "Semtex" Daley (21-8-2) and Jay "The Thoroughbred" Hieron (17-4), has been added to the Affliction 3 card, rumored for August 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. according to MMAFanhouse.

Hieron is currently enjoying a five fight winning streak, including his most recent first round knockout win over the previously unbeaten Jason High on the Affliction: "Day of Reckoning" card back in January.

The Xtreme Couture trainee was a staple under the now defunct IFL, fighting nine times for the promotion in a span of just under two years. Since then, however, "The Thoroughbred" has only been in action twice, defeating High earlier this year and also out-pointing Chris Kennedy en route to a unanimous decision victory at a "Super Fights MMA" event last October.

Hieron was rumored to be facing Nick Diaz on the upcoming Strikeforce event on June 6, but the promotion instead ended up booking Scott Smith as Diaz's opponent for the event. Still, that's a fight Hieron obviously would have loved to have.

He was part of KJ Noons corner the night he and Diaz had that melee in the cage following KJ's technical knockout win over Yves Edwards at Elite XC: "Return of the King." There's even video footage of Hieron throwing a punch at the Cesar Gracie-trained black belt.

With this announcement, that fight's on the back burner for the time being, but Strikeforce has big plans for its welterweight division. A fight between Hieron and Diaz is likely not too far away.

For Semtex, he'll be stepping into this fight having won his last two contests after dropping two out of three to Nick "The Goat" Thompson and Jake Shields prior to that. He's a dynamite striker who owns a 76% knockout rate, having stopped 16 of his 21 victims with strikes.

The Nottingham, England native holds notable career wins over Xavier Foupa-Pokam, Duane Ludwig, John Allesio, Mark Weir and others.

The third event for "The T-shirt guys" has not been officially announced by the organization, but it's expected to be headlined by WAMMA heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko, defending his strap against the current number one contender (under the WAMMA rankings) and one time UFC champ Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on Affliction 3 and its developing fight card.