Jeremy Stephens
California fighter Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens (20-9) will attempt to end a three fight losing skid fought at 155-lbs by dropping down to the featherweight division when he takes on Estevan ‘El Terrible’ Payan (14-3, 1NC) this May at UFC 160.
The announcement was made early this morning (@UFCTonight).
– #Breaking: Featherweight Bout between @az_kid2002 and @LiLHeathenMMA set for #UFC160 at @mgmgrand on Memorial Day Weekend!
UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva II is expected to take place on May 25, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be headlined by a rematch between UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and opponent Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
Stephens is certainly fighting for his job after three losses in a row and will look to re-invent himself at 145-lbs. ‘Lil Heathen’ fought this past December in Seattle, suffering a first round knockout loss at the hands of Yves Edwards at the UFC on FOX 5 event. The other two losses include a decision to Donald Cerrone at UFC on FUEL TV 3 and a split decision loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC 136.
Payan will make his Octagon debut at the Memorial Day weekend event and is riding an eight fight undefeated streak. The former Strikeforce fighter went 2-0 with the former promotion, picking up a second round TKO win over Mike Bravo last month at the final event. Previous to that, he won a decision over Alonzo Martinez in January 2012 in a 160-lbs catchweight bout.