Before he proclaimed himself the UFC’s hardest-hitting featherweight, Jeremy Stephens lit up a champion in the weight class above.
In what was one of the most unexpected UFC signings in recent memory, ‘Lil Heathen’ Jeremy Stephens has returned to fighting for the premier promotion.
The 34-fight UFC veteran and top-5 power puncher inked an unheard-of one-fight contract with the UFC where he will be taking on Mason Jones in a lightweight bout at UFC Des Moines this weekend in his hometown.
Stephens was released from the UFC in 2021 off a slew of 5 losses, one no-contest and a violent push at the weigh-ins which made his opponent withdraw due to whiplash. Since then, the 38-year-old has built himself back up with three-straight wins in the BKFC where he broke Eddie Alvarez’s jaw in January.
Alvarez is one of two UFC Lightweight Champions Stephens has dismantled with the Iowa-native scoring an all-time great uppercut knockout over the other more than 15 years ago.
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A 22-year-old Jeremy Stephens brutally KO’ed Rafael Dos Anjos
Prior to being on the cusp of a UFC title shot at 145lbs, Stephens wreaked havoc on the lightweight division from a young age.
In 2008, a 22-year-old Stephens met a future champion in Rafael Dos Anjos, two years his elder. Stephens vs. Dos Anjos took place at UFC 91, the same night Brock Lesnar beat Randy Couture to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Brazil’s Dos Anjos controlled Stephens on the ground for a decent portion of the first two rounds with four takedowns. Round 3 would be all Stephens who kept walking forward, trying to find his kill-shot.
35 seconds into the round, Stephens followed a right hand by unloading a piston-like uppercut that connected right on the chin of Dos Anjos. RDA went down to the canvas with Stephens laying him out cold with ground and pound strikes before the referee stopped the fight. (3:27 in the video below)
Stephens ran straight into the cage, bouncing off of it as he celebrated what is probably the most memorable knockout of his career.
Jeremy Stephens has made half a million dollars in UFC bonuses
The ruthless uppercut KO of Rafael Dos Anjos, seven years before the Brazilian won the UFC title, was Stephens’ first of many $50K bonuses inside the Octagon.
After spoiling RDA’s UFC debut, Stephens picked up 3 ‘performance of the night’ bonuses and 6 for ‘fight of the night’.
Stephens has cashed in $500,000 in performance bonuses alone fighting the best in the world for so many years.
Inside and out of the Octagon, ‘Lil Heathen’ has fought a multitude of former champions including: Jose Aldo (twice), Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar, Eddie Alvarez, Rafael Dos Anjos, Renan Barao, Anthony Pettis and Yair Rodriguez.