Jeremy Stephens made his return to the octagon after five years away from the UFC as he was defeated over three rounds in front of his home crowd.
Former Cage Warriors champion Mason Jones was offered the opportunity to play spoiler, and obliged after being welcomed with a very negative reception. Stephens, on the other hand, was brought back specifically for UFC Des Moines and was given the biggest reaction of the night by the Iowa crowd.
Jones was similarly returning to the UFC after earning his spot back with a successful second Cage Warriors run. Meanwhile, Stephens has emerged as a superstar in BKFC, even getting called out for a fight by long-time rival Conor McGregor.
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Jeremy Stephens vs Mason Jones UFC Des Moines result
Mason Jones was keen from early on to show off his striking, particularly against a renowned knockout artist like Jeremy Stephens. The former featherweight contender is eight years the senior of his rival, and a veteran of 50 fights to the Welshman’s 17.
But it seemed that Jones was using his youth and more rounded game to control the action either on the feet or when they got to the ground towards the end of round one. In the second, Jones landed a big shot about halfway through.
Stephens managed to survive the biggest shots and continue to walk forward, even landing his own on the way in. But it appeared inevitable that a more complete and younger martial artist like Jones would eventually find a way to land a finish.
That didn’t mean that Stephens made no effort fight back, heading for the body to have his strongest success over two. The second ended like the first, with Jones on top and missing out to the clock for a submission.
In the end, Jones managed to work his way to the top and get through round three, earning loud boos as he picked up a comfortable three-round decision.
Jeremy Stephens UFC return was initially planned for one night only
After his impressive knockouts in the BKFC ring, the announcement that Stephens had inked a one-fight deal was surprising to many following his win over Eddie Alvarez. What stunned viewers even more was news that he was coming back to the UFC for the first time since 2021.
He had won just one split decision in the cage since exiting the UFC, before a three-fight winning run in the ring. Upon learning that UFC was returning to Des Moines, he contacted Dana White who brought him back on a one-fight deal.
After sending him a DM pre-written by his wife, Stephens was surprised to get a message back with a fight offer. “Sure enough, as I’m flying out Tuesday night to Des Moines, right as I’m on the plane, I shoot him the message,” he told Ariel Helwani on his Uncrowned show.
“I turn off my phone and I go spend the whole week in Des Moines. 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 one in the morning.
“It was like, ‘Hey man. I’ve lost my phone contacts. I’ve been trying to get ahold 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 [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] contact you.'”