Jeremy Stephens

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1 Profile
2 Early MMA Career
3 UFC Career
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Jeremy "Lil' Heathen" Stephens (born May 26, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who trains at the Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa.

He stands 5 ft. 9 in. tall and fights in the lightweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early MMA Career

Jeremy Stephens made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Ted Worthington at the inaugural Downtown Destruction event on January 12, 2005. He defeated Worthington via KO just 33 seconds into the first round.

Stephens picked up another quick KO in his next fight before suffering his first loss in his third professional fight to Chris Mickle via rear naked choke submission.

"Lil' Heathen" picked up three more TKO victories on small promotions before rematching the only man to beat him, Mickle. The fight would end in Stephens' favor this time as he scored the 2nd round TKO victory.

Stephens wrapped up his first submission victory in his next bout before facing Chris Mickle for a third time. In a lightweight title fight for the MCC promotion, Stephens capped off the trilogy with an emphatic 4th round KO.

Two more finishes in his next two fights pushed Stephens' record to 10-1.

UFC Career

With an exciting and impressive start to his career, Stephens earned himself a call up to the UFC. His debut would come against TUF 4 and seasoned MMA veteran, Din Thomas at UFC 71.

Stephens looked good and impressed early against his more favored opponent but Thomas's experience and ground skill got the better of him in the second round as Thomas forced Stephens to tap to an armbar.

Granted a fight outside the organization to get his confidence back up, Stephens dispatched Nick Walker at an MCC event before returning to the Octagon at UFC 76.

At UFC 76, Stephens faced jiu jitsu specialist, Diego Saraiva. He was in trouble in the first round after Saraiva scored a takedown and passed Stephens' guard at will. The last two rounds were a different story though as Stephens exploited the holes in Saraiva's game with better striking and takedown defense, finally securing the unanimous decision and his first UFC victory.

Stephens returned at UFC Fight Night 12 against TUF 5 prospect, Cole Miller and looked impressive in scoring a TKO via ground and pound.

At The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, Stephens was given main card honors when he faced off against Spencer Fisher. In a bout that was expected to play out primarily on the feet, it ended up, for the major part, on the ground. Fisher used his years of MMA experience to exploit Stephens' ground game and eke out a unanimous decision victory.

With a UFC record of 2-2, Stephens came up against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 91 needing a victory. The first two rounds weren't looking good for Stephens as he was controlled by dos Anjos on the ground. In the third round Stephens began to let his hands fly and connected on dos Anjos' chin with an uppercut that he threw from the other side of the Octagon. Dos Anjos was knocked cold and Stephens was awarded the victory and "Knockout of the Night".

Stephens will next appear in the main event of UFC Fight Night 17 against TUF 5 semi finalist, Joe Lauzon as a replacement for former UFC lightweight title challenger, Hermes Franca. Stephens is also rumored to be facing off against TUF 8 lightweight winner, Efrain Escudero at UFC Fight Night 18 if he comes out of the Lauzon fight unscathed.