Leaving the UFC after setting the record for most losses in company history does not inspire confidence that a 34-fight veteran of the promotion will ever make it back to the big show.
However, that is exactly the feat Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens has now accomplished according to Full Send MMA, with his three-fight Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship stint paving him a path right to his birth city of Des Moines, Iowa, where the UFC is set to host a Fight Night card in May.
Jeremy Stephens is back in the UFC ?pic.twitter.com/2Zn0AFMoX1
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) March 13, 2025
Stephens had gone 0-5 (1 NC) to end his Ultimate Fighting Championship run before signing with the PFL, where he went 1-2, although one loss was a ‘Fight of the Year‘ candidate against Clay Collard.
Moving to boxing did not even prove immediately successful for the then-36-year-old, who went 0-1-1 in his two fights in 12 ounce gloves against MMA featherweight GOAT Jose Aldo and Diaz bros compatriot Chris Avila.
Yet when the gloves came off, ‘Lil Heathen’ proved he was built for blood, beating three opponents with nothing to protect his hands, including two former UFC colleagues – former bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera and former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez – by stoppage.
Jeremy Stephens TKOs Eddie Alvarez in Philly ? #KnuckleManiaV
(via @bareknucklefc, @daznsport) pic.twitter.com/QktHvKn1hz
— Uncrowned (@uncrownedcombat) January 26, 2025
Now, the former featherweight contender is set to return at the weight class he has primarily competed at for the last four years, 155-lbs, against another past UFC fighter, Welsh former Cage Warriors two-weight champion Mason Jones.
Jones was cut after a difficult, unlucky 1-2 (1 NC) stretch with the promotion despite his own ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate back in 2021 against Mike Davis, but four straight wins – three by knockout – back in Britain earned him a return to UFC in style as the featured bout of the Des Moines card.
Mike “Beast Boy” Davis(@MikeDavisMMA) vs Mason Jones | UFCFightIsland 8
Davis and Jones engaged in a back and forth war that saw Davis emerge with the unanimous victory to spoil Jones’ UFC debut #UFC #MMA
Requested by @PeeLeePangg pic.twitter.com/TUrr5SOKKV
— Underrated Tribal Chief (@MMAUnderrated) January 27, 2024
The event will be headlined by a bantamweight contender bout between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo, with a middleweight co-main event between college wrestling star Bo Nickal and former ONE Championship double champ Reinier de Ridder, a bout first reported by The Jugo Mobile in February.
Stephens made a splash with his final fight in BKFC, defeating Eddie Alvarez as an underdog, but revealed after the fight that his contract with the bareknuckle boxing promotion had expired, allowing him to cash in on the resurgence in name value in negotiations elsewhere.
Maybe in this stint with the UFC at age 38, the Iowa native will show younger fans why he is tied for second most knockdowns in UFC history, and transcend that infamous viral moment with Conor McGregor from all those years ago.
UFC Iowa will take place Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
