Both Jeremy Stephens and Rony Jason suffered injuries that pushed them out of their scheduled fight on October 9 in Brazil, but the good news is the fight will take place just a month later.
Stephens and Jason have agreed to meet on the upcoming November 9 card for UFC Fight Night 32 in Brazil.
Both competitors have verbally agreed to the matchup according to sources close to the fighters’ camps when speaking to Bleacher Report on Wednesday.
The featherweights were schedule to meet in October until Jason was ruled out of the fight by the Brazilian MMA Athletic commission (CABMMA) due to a lumbar hernia. Jason was pulled from the fight by the commission after a pre-fight medical exam—including an MRI—revealed the nature of the injury.
It appears the hernia wasn’t too severe because he will be able to get cleared and fight on November 9 instead.
With no replacement found, Stephens was forced to make the tough call to pull out of the fight. He was suffering from a leg injury that had kept him out of the gym for more than a week when he was forced to withdraw his name from the card.
The additional time off gave him time to heal, but even when he was removed from the UFC Fight Night 29 card in Brazil, his time off wasn’t expected to exceed a few weeks.
Now that diagnosis is confirmed: Stephens accepted a fight on Nov. 9 against Jason in Brazil.
The two featherweights are both looking to make an impact in the division when they meet at UFC Fight Night 32. Jason has gone undefeated since winning the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil picking up a victory in the finale and then two more wins since.
Meanwhile, Stephens just recently dropped to featherweight after spending most of his career competing at 155 pounds. He found success with his first fight, during which he bludgeoned Estevan Payan over the course of 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision win.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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