Eyebrows were raised when it emerged that Jeremy Stephens will be making a surprise comeback to the UFC at Fight Night 256 on May 3rd against Mason Jones, but ‘Lil Heathen’ has now revealed that as things stand it’s only a one-fight deal.
“It’s just a one-and-done, dude,” Stephens said on the Ariel Helwani Show. “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.”
It’s not surprising that the 38-year-old Stephens would be willing to return back to bareknuckle boxing as he’d done very well in that arena so far, having beaten Jimmie Rivera, Bobby Taylor and most recent Eddie Alvarez in the ring over the past couple of years.
That being said, it seems that Stephens is also keeping the door open for a potential extended stay in the UFC if he does well against Jones.
“If there’s some opportunity there in the UFC, that’s for sure too, bro. I’m not worried about any of that.”
Stephens certainly has something left to prove in the Octagon as by the time he was released from the UFC in 2021 he had gone winless in six fights.
That being said, due to being a long-time veteran of the promotion with some name value, Stephens had been getting continually paired up with tough opponents during that losing slump, including the likes of Jose Aldo, Yair Rodriguez, Mateusz Gamrot, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Calvin Kattar.
Truth be told though, Stephens 14-year UFC run was always a bit of a mixed bag results wise, going 14-17 (+1nc) overall up to this point.
His upcoming opponent Jones is actually also returning for a second stint in the UFC too, having only managed a 1-2 (+1nc) run the first time around between 2021-2022, but he is coming off a four-fight winning streak in the Cage Warriors promotion.
