Soon-to-be UFC lightweight Jeremy Stephens has revealed the reasons behind his resigning with the company, as well as the details of his current contract.
Jeremy Stephens’ Spouse Helps Land Him New promotional stint
Slated to resume his tenure in the organization on May 3rd at UFC Fight Night 256, Jeremy Stephens will make his grand return in his home state and city of Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena against European star Mason Jones.
The global leader in MMA’s trip to The Hawkeye State marks a new milestone for the UFC, as it will be the first time they have hosted an event there, in addition to it being their first show in Iowa in 25 years. While Jeremy Stephens arguably would have campaigned on his own to secure his place on the card, he ended up getting inspiration from a certain family member of his.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, “Lil’ Heathen” opened up on just how his fight with Jones came to be.
“And my wife, this all kind of came on her birthday before I took a trip back to Iowa to go see my mom, go see my family,” Jeremy Stephens began. She’s like, ‘You should shoot Dana a text.’ They just announced the Iowa card shortly after I’d fought in bare-knuckle.”
“I’m like, ‘I’ll tell you what: If you shoot the text, I’ll shoot it to him,” Jeremy Stephens continued. “You write it up, I’ll copy-paste. Sure enough, as I’m flying out Tuesday night to Des Moines, right as I’m on the plane, I shoot him the message, turn off my phone and I go spend the whole week in Des Moines.”
Time Passes and Jeremy Stephens Gets Reply
“I didn’t hear back from him. I wake up on my uncle’s couch at four in the morning to head back home to San Diego, and I’ve got a message from him at 1:00 in the morning, like, ‘Hey man. I’ve lost my phone contacts,'” Jeremy Stephens mentioned. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, and this is from Dana. He’s like, ‘Hit me up, give me your number. Would love to hear from you. I’ll have Hunter contact you.’”
Jeremy Stephens Only Making Limited Engagement in UFC
Getting back into the UFC after such a long time away is by no means an easy thing to accomplish. Walking away from the promotion in 2021 off the back of a five-fight losing streak, Jeremy Stephens bounced around several different banners, including the PFL and BKFC, racking up three straight wins in the latter.
Although he seems excited to be back in the UFC, he revealed that his contract is only for one contest, stating that he wishes to return to bare-knuckle boxing at a later date.
“It’s just a one-and-done, dude,” Jeremy Stephens mentioned. “Again, I’m betting on me, I can really set myself up for an opportunity to go in there and show and dominate. I see me going back to bare knuckle. I would like to fight Mike Perry, someone big. If there’s some opportunity there in the UFC, that’s for sure too, bro. I’m not worried about any of that.”
