Veteran UFC featherweight staple, Jeremy Stephens has reportedly parted ways with the organization following the completion of his contractual obligations last July – ending a 15-year stint with the promotion, beginning back in 2007.
Stephens, 35, is currently in the midst of a three-fight losing run, most recently suffering a one-sided opening round kimura loss to the #12 ranked, Mateusz Gamrot at UFC Vegas 31 back in July in his return to the lightweight limit.
Jeremy Stephens holds a notable knockout win over former lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos
Winless in his last six outings, the Iowa native’s most recent win came against the current #6 rated featherweight contender, Josh Emmett back in 2018 – whom he finished with thunderous second round knockout strikes. MMA Fighting reporters, Guilherme Cruz and Damon Martin were first to report the news of Stephens’ departure from the North American-based promotion.
Before his submission defeat to Gamrot, Stephens was finished by strikes against both Calvin Kattar and Jose Aldo – in between a pair of decision losses to both Yair Rodriguez, and Zabit Magomedsharipov, whilst initially competing to an official ‘No Contest’ against Rodriguez in a UFC Fight Night Mexico City main event.
15-18(1) throughout his 15-year stint with the Dana White-led outfit, Stephens, who initially entered the promotion as a lightweight, found most of his success at the featherweight limit.
Landing a total 19 knockout victories across his professional mixed martial arts career which began back in 2005, Stephens has bested household names such as the aforenoted, Emmett, Doo Ho-Choi, Gilbert Melendez, Renan Barao, Dennis Bermudez, Darren Elkins, Rony Jason, Estevan Payan, and Rafael dos Anjos.
In April of last year, Stephens was slated to feature against Drakkar Klose at UFC Vegas 24, however, in the hours leading up to the bout, Klose was forced to withdraw citing a neck injury, after Stephens has forcibly shoved him during the pre-fight weigh-in staredowns on Friday. As a result, Stephens was also removed from the card and the bout was shelved.