Tag: Jeremy Stephens

Five Fights That Prove UFC 205 Will Be Better Than UFC 200

The official card for November 12’s awaited UFC 205 pay-per-view (PPV) event was finally released by the promotion with the confirmation of Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez in the main event late last night, and it’s safe to say that the UFC’s New York debut from historic sports venue Madison Square Garden is one of, if

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The official card for November 12’s awaited UFC 205 pay-per-view (PPV) event was finally released by the promotion with the confirmation of Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez in the main event late last night, and it’s safe to say that the UFC’s New York debut from historic sports venue Madison Square Garden is one of, if not the, most anticipated MMA moments of 2016 – and even all time.

However, that distinction may have once belonged to July’s UFC 200, the supposed “biggest, baddest event ever,” which was pegged as arguably the most stacked card of all time before a slew of problems, including last-minute changes and disappointing drug testing issues, lead to a wholly lackluster, uninspired event outside of the Fight Pass preliminaries.

Thankfully for the UFC – and the overall state of MMA as a whole – UFC 205 has a long list of high-profile bouts that could (should?) serve to quickly erase the bad memories of UFC 200 from their minds, if they haven’t been already.

Let’s break down five fights that will prove UFC 205 has the star power to decimate UFC 200 on paper.

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5.) Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum:

This welterweight card-starter already trumps UFC 200’s welterweight offering between Gastelum and former champ Johny Hendricks, which Gastelum won via ho-hum unanimous decision. “Bigg Rigg” may be a former champion, but he’s also looked like a shell of his formerly dominant self this year, and it was hard for the much more spry Gastelum to put on a good show at UFC 200 without a willing dance partner.

It may not be the “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs. “Cowboy” bout we were all hoping for, yet it does provide a potentially exciting scrap to set the tone for the PPV card.

Cerrone has absolutely been on fire in his last three fights, finishing off Alex Oliveira, Patrick Cote, and most recently, Rick Story to reinvent himself at 170 pounds following a stoppage loss to Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight strap late last year. Gastelum has quietly planted himself as a top five contender in arguably the UFC’s most talented division, making this bout a crucial one with pivotal title implications.

No matter who wins, the welterweight division will have a new contender towards the top; one who could contend for the title after Demian Maia gets his shot (or face Maia himself).

Either way, it would seem this fight is a can’t-miss bout that will get the UFC’s New York party started right.

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Breaking: Conor McGregor Won’t Fight At UFC 205

Finally, several bouts have been made official for November 12’s UFC 205 pay-per-view event from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Featherweight champion Conor McGregor just won’t be among them unfortunately. Speculation has recently predicted a Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez main event for the lightweight title, but UFC President Dana White seemingly

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Finally, several bouts have been made official for November 12’s UFC 205 pay-per-view event from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.

Featherweight champion Conor McGregor just won’t be among them unfortunately.

Speculation has recently predicted a Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez main event for the lightweight title, but UFC President Dana White seemingly put the kibosh on those plans by saying top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov would get the next 155-pound title shot at the event. 

White expanded upon that notion earlier tonight when Megan Olivi announced on ‘UFC Tonight’ that the president revealed McGregor was still rehabbing a foot injury from his five-round war with Nate Diaz at August 20’s UFC 202. That meant ‘The Notorious’ was unlikely to fight at the UFC’s first event from New York City. Alvarez vs. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, was clarified by White as potentially headlining December 10’s UFC 206 from Toronto. Both fighters have been sent new bout agreements for the title tilt.

The five bouts that were officially announced were Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens, Kelvin Gastelum vs. Donald Cerrone, Tim Kennedy vs. Rashad Evans, Tim Boestch vs. Rafael Natal, and Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian. Hailing from nearby Toms River, New Jersey, Edgar will look to rebound from a loss to longtime former champion Aldo for the interim featherweight belt in at July’s UFC 200 from Las Vegas.

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley also guaranteed as ‘UFC Tonight’ co-host that he would be facing Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at the card, a fight that he announced last Friday but is only being held up by a technicality in the contract according to ‘The Chosen One.’

The full card will be announced at a press conference from Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, September 27, 2016, three days before tickets for the historic card go on sale.

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Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens Latest Rumored Bout At UFC 205

Add a potential featherweight barnburner to the growing list of high-profile bouts at November’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden. According to a report from Combate, two-time former title challenger Frankie Edgar will battle No. 7-ranked Jeremy Stephens at the UFC’s first major card from New York City. Edgar will seek to rebound from his

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Add a potential featherweight barnburner to the growing list of high-profile bouts at November’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden.

According to a report from Combate, two-time former title challenger Frankie Edgar will battle No. 7-ranked Jeremy Stephens at the UFC’s first major card from New York City.

Edgar will seek to rebound from his second unanimous decision loss to Jose Aldo. The two threw down for the interim 145-pound belt at July 9’s UFC 200, where ‘Junior’ edged the answer to remain the only man to beat ‘The Answer’ twice (or at all) at 145 pounds. There was talk of of Edgar cutting down yet another weight class to fight for the 135-pound belt, but nothing came of the speculation.

Hailing from nearby Toms River, New Jersey, Edgar will be faced with a pivotal bout in front of his family and friends as he attempts to claw his way back to another elusive title.

Stephens, on the other hand, has very little to lose, as he has the opportunity to score a two-fight win streak over some top names after his decision win over former bantamweight champ Renan Barao in his last fight. “Lil’ Heathen” is well known for putting on some of the most exciting bouts in the UFC. He’s won two out of his last three, with the only loss in that period to surging contender Max Holloway, who’s won nine in a row.

Edgar vs. Stephens will join a growing UFC 205 lineup that added Chris Weidman vs. Yoel Romero today, Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum, and Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy. Less than two months away from the hyped and historic card, UFC 205 does not yet have a main event in place, although Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt has been rumored.

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Jeremy Stephens Seeking Fight With Frankie Edgar Next

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Jeremy Stephens views Frankie Edgar as the perfect stepping stone to challenging for the UFC featherweight title.

That’s why Stephens wants to test his skills against th…

jeremy-stephens

Jeremy Stephens views Frankie Edgar as the perfect stepping stone to challenging for the UFC featherweight title.

That’s why Stephens wants to test his skills against the former UFC champion and multi-time title challenger.

Stephens (25-12) picked up a May decision over another former champion, Renan Barao, in his most recent fight. He is 5-3 over his last eight, with all three losses coming via decision.

Edgar fell to Jose Aldo at UFC 200 for the interim belt.

Is this a match that interests you?

Fight Night 88 Highlights/Results: Garbrandt Sleeps Almeida, Stephens Upsets Barao + More

(via UFC on FOX)

With last weekend’s Fight Night 88 main event matchup between Cody Garbrandt and Thomas Almeida, we were being promised a glimpse at the future of the bantamweight division regardless of who won. More of us may have been banking on the latter to emerge as that future champion, sure, but it would be hard to discredit either fighter as anything but a top contender following an impressive win.

Given Almeida’s tendency to get rocked at least once in every one of his UFC fights thus far, one would assume that his camp would have placed an emphasis on head movement and staying off the line against a similarly devastating puncher like Garbrandt. Then again, this is Chute Box we’re talking about after all, so it’s likely that their gameplan for the fight never stretched beyond “swing for the goddamn fences and hope you land first.” As such, Almeida’s first round KO loss to the Team Alpha Male up-and-comer demonstrated that, as dynamic as the young Brazilian may be offensively, he still has a bit of work to do defensively. Live and learn.

Full results and highlights for Fight Night 88 are after the jump.

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(via UFC on FOX)

With last weekend’s Fight Night 88 main event matchup between Cody Garbrandt and Thomas Almeida, we were being promised a glimpse at the future of the bantamweight division regardless of who won. More of us may have been banking on the latter to emerge as that future champion, sure, but it would be hard to discredit either fighter as anything but a top contender following an impressive win.

Given Almeida’s tendency to get rocked at least once in every one of his UFC fights thus far, one would assume that his camp would have placed an emphasis on head movement and staying off the line against a similarly devastating puncher like Garbrandt. Then again, this is Chute Box we’re talking about after all, so it’s likely that their gameplan for the fight never stretched beyond “swing for the goddamn fences and hope you land first.” As such, Almeida’s first round KO loss to the Team Alpha Male up-and-comer demonstrated that, as dynamic as the young Brazilian may be offensively, he still has a bit of work to do defensively. Live and learn.

What a fall from grace it’s been for Renan Barao. The former bantamweight kingpin was pummeled right out of his division in back-to-back appearances against TJ Dillashaw, and his featherweight debut against Jeremy Stephens in the co-main event of Fight Night 88 didn’t exactly sell him as a future champion of that division either. Despite a strong showing in the opening round, Barao seemed almost insistent on gassing himself out in the second and third with failed takedown attempts, and in doing so, allowed the veteran Stephens to find his rhythm in the exchanges and bust the Brazilian open on multiple occasions. Like Florian said, Barao may not be a broken fighter, but he’s definitely a defeated one at this point.

There wasn’t really much else to write home about on Fight Night 88, however, and the UFC on FOX channel has likewise opted against uploading any more highlight videos. With that in mind, let’s just touch on a few other noteworthy moments:

– Even in victory, Rick Story was left with a gruesome reminder of Tarec Saffiedine’s kicking abilities.

– After all that trash he talked, Aljamain Sterling just couldn’t get it done against “Mr. Tate” Bryan Caraway. The only thing worse than his performance? The absolute garbage takes on Twitter that came in the aftermath.

–Erik Koch looked like a goddamn man possessed against Shane Campbell and showed next to no signs of the ring rust you’d expect from a guy coming off his *second* two year injury. His post-fight mean mug = absolute savagery.

The full results for Fight Night 88 are below. 

Main card (FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m. ET)
Cody Garbrandt def. Thomas Almeida via KO (punches) at 2:53 of round 1
Jeremy Stephens def. Renan Barao via unanimous decision
Rick Story def. Tarec Saffiedine via unanimous decision
Chris Camozzi vs. Vitor Miranda via unanimous decision
Lorenz Larkin def. Jorge Masvidal via split decision
Paul Felder def. Josh Burkman via unanimous decision

Undercard (FOX Sports 1 at 7 p.m. ET)
Sara McMann def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision
Abel Trujillo def. Jordan Rinaldi via unanimous decision
Jake Collier def. Alberto Uda via TKO (spinning back kick) at 1:06 of round 2
Erik Koch def. Shane Campbell via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:02 of round 2

Undercard (UFC Fight Pass at 6 p.m. ET)
Bryan Caraway def. Aljamain Sterling via split decision
Adam Milstead def. Chris De La Rocha via TKO (punches) at 4:01 of round 2

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UFC Fight Night 88 Salaries: Jeremy Stephens Tops List With $100,000 Payday

Following a successful UFC Fight Night 88 event this past Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fighter salaries have surfaced online.

Leading the payroll for this past Sunday’s event, which UFC President Dana White called the “sleeper card of the …

jeremy-stephens

Following a successful UFC Fight Night 88 event this past Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, the fighter salaries have surfaced online.

Leading the payroll for this past Sunday’s event, which UFC President Dana White called the “sleeper card of the year,” was Jeremy Stephens. “Lil Heathen” Stephens earned a reported $100,000 payday for his victory over former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao in Barao’s featherweight debut.

Below are the complete UFN 88 fighter salaries, according to figures released by the Nevada Athletic Commission:

Main Card (FOX Sports 1):

Cody Garbrandt ($24,000 + $24,000 = $48,000) def. Thomas Almeida ($25,000)
Jeremy Stephens ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Renan Barao ($50,000)
Rick Story ($38,000 + $38,000 = $76,000) def. Tarec Saffiedine ($37,000)
Chris Camozzi ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) vs. Vitor Miranda ($18,000)
Lorenz Larkin ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) def. Jorge Masvidal ($57,000)
Paul Felder ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. Josh Burkman ($48,000)

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1):

Sara McMann ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Jessica Eye ($25,000)
Abel Trujillo ($26,000 + $26,000 = $52,000) def. Jordan Rinaldi ($10,000)
Jake Collier ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Alberto Uda ($10,000)
Erik Koch ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. Shane Campbell ($15,000)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):

Bryan Caraway ($18,000 + $18,000 = $36,000) def. Aljamain Sterling ($30,000)
Adam Milstead ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Chris De La Rocha ($10,000)