Jeremy Stephens is back in the UFC!
The decorated lightweight fighter will be stepping back into the octagon on May 3 against Mason Jones. Originally, Stephens was released from the UFC back in 2022 following his loss to Mateusz Gamrot at UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés. Though the 38-year-old was one of the top fighters who can always be counted on to provide an entertaining bout, Stephens was on a massive skid that highlighted a decline in his career.
The man who seemed primed to become the next top lightweight thanks to his wins over Gilbert Melendez, Josh Emmett, and Renan Barão was no longer present during his fight against Gamrot.
Stephens had a five-fight losing streak before his UFC exit, with a no contest squeezed in-between his consecutive losses. Jeremy would make the jump to PFL and it didn’t get much better for the MMA veteran. He fought three times for PFL and only won a single bout against Myles Price.
However, things changed when Stephens made the jump to Bare Knuckle Fighting. The UFC fighter found his groove and won all three of his bouts, including a win over former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez.
It’s not clear if his success in Bare Knuckle Fighting prompted Dana White to re-sign Stephens, but he has a chance to re-ignite his MMA career on a stacked fight night card that’s headlined with Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo.
Jones isn’t a name to scoff at as he comes in on a four-fight winning streak. Like Stephens, he’s making his return to the promotion on May 3 because he turned heads with his impressive wins in Cage Warriors. This is as big of an opportunity for Jones as it is for Stephens, as it could be one and done for the loser of this bout.
Check out the updated and loaded card for the upcoming UFC Fight Night show at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The card also features recent Bantamweight title challenger Marlon Vera and former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate.
- Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Reinier de Ridder vs. Bo Nickal
- Mason Jones vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Mario Bautista vs. Marlon Vera
- Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate
- Montel Jackson vs. Daniel Marcos
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Trevor Peek
- Serhiy Sidey vs. Cameron Smotherman
- Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Tokkos
- Azamat Bekoev vs. Ryan Loder