Jeremy Stephens was more than happy to play spoiler last night (Sat., Jan. 25, 2025) at BKFC “KnuckleMania 5” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn., quieting the local Philly crowd with a third-round TKO victory over former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. “Lil Heathen” even scored a post-fight faceoff with Conor McGregor.
This main event fight was expected to deliver fireworks from the opening second. Both Alvarez and Stephens are two aggressive strikers who bite down on their mouthpieces and swing away. It was a recipe for success and an incredible matchup to lead a massive “KnuckleMania 5” card in front of a record-setting 17,000 bareknuckle boxing fans.
The first two rounds offered an entertaining back-and-forth war, but it appeared that Stephens had a slight power advantage when he landed. In the third round, Stephens clobbered Alvarez with a huge knockdown, but “Underground King” quickly worked his way to his feet. Unfortunately for him, Stephens connected on another knockdown with seconds left in the round that left Alvarez slow to get up and his mouth full of blood. It didn’t look good.
After a look at their fighter, Alvarez’s corner decided to call a stop to the fight before the fourth round started. Stephens walked away with the TKO finish and one of the biggest victories of his combat career. You can check out the finish in the above video player.
Following his knockout win, Stephens delivered a fiery post-fight speech in which he called out the promotion for its lack of support, the Philadelphia fans who counted him out, and of course, McGregor, for predicting Alvarez to win. McGregor made sure he came face-to-face with Stephens after his callout and proposed a fight inside of the bareknuckle ring (shown below).
Conor McGregor challenges Jeremy Stephens to a fight in BKFC …. That will never happenpic.twitter.com/s6aKxzRDOd
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) January 26, 2025
For complete BKFC “KnuckleMania 5” results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.