Author: Sean Smith

This Saturday, Jeremy Stephens will meet Danny Downes at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in Las Vegas, Nevada. Coming off of an incredible come-from-behind knockout of Marcus Davis at UFC 125, Stephens is looking to continue his run at the UFC Lightweight Championship with a win over Downes.

Recently, Stephens took some time to talk exclusively with the Bleacher Report about his fight with Downes, the UFC’s new Twitter bonus program and more.

Not long before this interview, the UFC had announced that it would be giving away $5,000 bonuses to the UFC and Strikeforce fighters who could gain the most followers and post the most creative tweets. Just days after the announcement, Stephens had already gotten to work on attracting new followers to his profile.

“Right now, I’m just posting all my blogs and my website. Trying to get some good followers, you know, trying to get that Twitter bonus. And my 6,001st follower, I told the fans that I’d fly them in for three days to come train here in San Diego and just enjoy [San Diego]. Hopefully it can be after my fight, so I get a chance to have some one-on-one time, help them out and introduce them to the Victory family.”

Many were surprised to hear the UFC would be encouraging its fighters to use Twitter more often while other sports leagues such as the NFL have gone as far as fining their players for online activity. Count Stephens as one who thinks the bonus program is a great idea to bring fans closer to their favorite fighters.

“It’s pretty cool. For the UFC to do that, I actually think it’s a good thing that they do initiate some stuff like that. Twitter is like a personal [look at] your favorite fighter and what they’re doing, so it’s actually a cool thing. I’m surprised that they actually ban people from using it.”  

While Stephens is doing his best to get more people to follow him, he doesn’t plan on changing his behavior whatsoever in an effort to draw attention to himself.

“I don’t look to call anybody out. I just go in and fight and let Joe Silva do the matchmaking.”

To expand on that, Stephens went on to say that he is strictly a fighter, not an entertainer. With four fight bonuses in his last eight fights, Stephens may be considered one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC, but he says that is only a result of his aggressive fighting style every time he steps into the Octagon.  

“I’ve always been a pretty relaxed, cool guy in and outside the cage. I feel like I’m very humble and always watch what I say. I’ve been doing this for a long time and my style has always attracted fans and put good people around me. As far as being an entertainer, that’s just my style of fighting is aggressive and very fast paced. I always bring it. Fans all around the world send me letters and I always sign cards  for them and they thank me putting the hard work in the gym and being an entertaining fighter. As far as being an entertainer, I’m not. I’m just a fighter. Ilike to fight, I like to go for it and go for broke every time.”

Two rounds into his most recent fight, Stephens was down on the scorecards against Davis and needed a finish. Then fans knew it, Stephens’ coaches knew it and Stephens himself knew it. Potentially facing a release from the UFC in the event of a loss, Stephens did let adversity hold him back as he came out as aggressive as ever in the third round and finished Davis with a knockout that is still worthy of a 2011 Knockout of the Year nomination.

“Yeah, of course I knew I was down. My coaches had explained to me very well going into that third round that I was down. I knew it was pretty obvious. I just knew I had to make something happen in that third round. I don’t ever give up just because I’m down a round or two. Even if I’m winning, I’m always trying to finish. I don’t even like going into the third round. So, I’m going into the third round trying to take your head off. I got to finish the fight. I don’t want to leave a decision, especially after that [Melvin] Guillard fight and the way it went down. I knew I was losing, so I had to do something fast and I just kept pressing the action and once I landed I was happy as hell and I still got my job.”

Stephens was originally expected to fight Jonathan Brookins at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, but Brookins was forced to withdraw from that bout due to injury. The cancellation of the Brookins fight was unfortunate for Stephens, but he is just happy to still have a fight on the card.

“It’s something that happens. It’s something that you got to prepare yourself for. Brookins is a tough guy. I trained very hard for him and I knew it was going to be a good fight, but unfortunately that happened. But as of this day, I’m still training harder than ever, I’m peaking right at the right time and I’m excited to fight Danny Downes. I’m just happy that I’m on the card and not getting pushed back to who knows when, because there’s a lot of guys that have fought and won that are on the prelims such as Guillard and other people. So, I’m just happy to be fighting, regardless who it is, and I’m still going to go out there and perform my best and go for that knockout or submission. I’m going there to win.”

Stephens wasn’t going to give his game plan away, but he acknowledged the fact that Downes is a very different fighter from his originally expected opponent, Brookins. Although Downes isn’t as well-known as Brookins, Stephens still expects a game opponent.

“Downes is more of a stand-up fighter compared to Brookins, who is more of a wrestler. Downes has got muay thai and trains hard at Duke Roufus’ camp. I’ve trained with a good friend of theirs, Erik Koch, who is actually a friend of mine. So, I know they train hard and they’re good at stand-up as far as mixed martial arts. I know he’s going to be well prepared and he has nothing to lose. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing as my roommate likes to say and that makes him a very dangerous opponent. It’s kind of like me coming into the Dean Thomas fight. No one really gave me a chance, but when I got in there I shocked a lot of people, so I’m not looking to get shocked. I’m coming in there like he’s a game opponent and I’m training very hard. I’m going to go out there, execute my gameplan and I will win.”

After previously fighting in the WEC, Downes will be making his UFC debut against Stephens. While many UFC newcomers have gotten off to slow starts in their debuts due to nerves, Stephens expects Downes to be at his best from start to finish on Saturday.

“He’s a tough guy. He keeps coming and I think everything he’s good at I’m better at. I have to keep that in mind. I can’t make any mistakes. I think his nerves may play a factor, but I’m not counting on it. I’m counting on having the best Danny Downes step in front of me. He has nothing to lose and he’s going to come and bring it. I hope he does, because it’s going to make for an exciting fight and we’re going to give the fans what they deserve. I going to give them that knockout.”

Having recently gone to a narrow decision with a current contender in Guillard, Stephens is capable of competing with just about any lightweight in the world. Nonetheless, Stephens isn’t concerned with how many fights he is away from a title shot at the moment. Right now, he is more concerned with staying active and continuing to win fights.

“With most of the guys being hurt right now, that doesn’t even matter to me as far as getting a title shot. I wish them the best recovery and everything like that, so I’m just looking to fight right now. I’m a fighter. I want to keep fighting and just keep progressing. I’m in no hurry to get that title shot. I’m still very young in my career, I’m healthy and I’m happy with what I do. So, I’ll just keep continuing to fight and keep kicking people’s asses. Once that time comes it’ll come at the right moment and I’ll be ready.”

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