Lightweight fighter Jeremy ‘Lil’Heathen’ Stephens (20-7) is stepping in as a replacement for Yves Edwards after the ‘Thugjitsu Master’ was forced to withdraw from an upcoming UFC on FUEL TV 3 bout due to an undisclosed injury.
Stephens will step into the Octagon to face Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (17-4) at the Virginia event, with plenty of time left to prepare for the May event.
News of Edwards injury and his replacement, Stephens, was first announced by MMAjunkie.com on Monday.
UFC on FUEL TV 3 is expected to take place on May 15, 2012 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The bout between the two lightweights is certain to end up on the main card.
Stephens is coming off a split decision loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 136 last October, ending back-to-back wins for the California based fighter. ‘Lil’Heathen’ earned both of those victories in 2011, earning a decision against Danny Downes at the TUF 13 Finale, and stopping Marcus Davis by KO at UFC 125. Stephens is 4-2 in his last six matches.
Cerrone had a six fight win streak stopped by Nate Diaz last December, losing a unanimous decision to the Stockton, California native. It was the ‘Cowboy’s’ fifth fight of 2011, which saw his UFC debut and tear through the lightweight division until the UFC 141 loss to Diaz. In that time frame, Cerrone had earned four “Fight Night” bonuses which also included victories against Dennis Siver, Charles Oliveira, Vagner Rocha, and Paul Kelly.