Jeremy Stephens doesn’t think we’ve seen the last of him in the UFC.
The 39-year-old Stephens made his 35th walk to the Octagon earlier this year, in an unexpected return to the UFC against Mason Jones after four years away.
Unfortunately, the UFC veteran wasn’t able to get his hand raised in what was his first MMA fight in years, losing a unanimous decision to Jones in front of his hometown crowd at UFC Des Moines.
After his one-fight contract expired with the UFC, Stephens signed on to fight former UFC fighter Mike Perry for the ‘King of Violence’ title in the main event of BKFC 82 on Oct. 4 in Newark, New Jersey.
According to Stephens, this next fight nearly took place under the UFC banner instead of BKFC’s.
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BKFC’s ‘King of Violence’ Mike Perry faces Jeremy Stephens at the BKFC 82 press conference. Credit: BKFCJeremy Stephens says there was talks of him fighting Mike Perry in UFCStephens currently has a one-fight contract with BKFC, saying he’d love to fight in the UFC again.
“Most definitely,” Stephens told Bloody Elbow.
“Who knows, man? Maybe it’d be nice to have one last fight right there and that’d be it. One more for sure.”
Stephens continued: “I was talking to UFC and them guys about another opportunity. They love the performance. They’re like, ‘hey dude, f—— phenomenal performance’.
“We were thinking about running it. You know, this fight actually almost happened in UFC,” Stephens said of his upcoming bare knuckle boxing bout with Perry.
“Believe it or not. There was talks about that,” Stephens added.
Perry’s last MMA fight came in the UFC against Daniel Rodriguez in 2021. He lost by unanimous decision and later left the premier promotion with a record of 7-8.
A UFC return for ‘Platinum’ would have been something else, especially after all he’s done in BKFC, where Perry is still undefeated at 5-0.
Jeremy Stephens likes his odds vs. Mike Perry in BKFCStephens likes his chances against Perry more in the Squared Circle than he does in the Octagon.
Stephens expressed interest in fighting Perry last December, prior to his TKO stoppage over former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez at Knuckle Mania 5.
“Here we are,” Stephens said ahead of his ‘King of Violence’ title fight.
“I love my odds here in bare knuckle. People might think that’s crazy or whatever, but I love my odds, especially, the weight, with wrestling, you definitely have to worry about that…
“But here in bare knuckle, you can choose to engage in the clinch, and you can also choose not to by using speed and lots of tools.
“I like my odds here in bare knuckle a lot more than I would MMA for sure,” said Stephens.
