Jeremy Stephens Talks One-Fight UFC Deal For UFC Des Moines Fight Card

The last time Jeremy Stephens stepped into the UFC Octagon was in July 2021. Stephens, who first fought for the promotion at UFC 71 in May 2007, lost to Mateusz Gamrot by first-round submission on that night. The loss marked Stephens’s sixth straight UFC fight without a win. In January 2022, the UFC and Stephens parted ways. Stephens left the promotion with a 15-18-0-1UFC record. Earlier this month, the UFC re-signed the 38-year-old for a fight card in Stephens’s hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.

Stephens, who is tied for sixth all-time in career UFC fights, recently spoke about returning to the UFC.

Jeremy Stephens On His Return To The UFC

“I manifested it,” Des Moines native Stephens told Ariel Helwani. “You guys ever seen the movie ‘The Ring’? I crawled out that well with my bare hands and moved the concrete lid that was over the top. Now I’m just crawling, wreaking havoc on these (expletive), bro. It’s so great.

“I willed this into reality. Delusions to reality. I journaled this in. Making it happen, I did it on my own. People left me for dead. I rose up like The Undertaker, and I reached out to the godfather himself. I took a shot, bet on [myself]

again, and here we are. The return in my hometown. You cannot write or make a movie up about this. This is the life, baby.”

“I felt like maybe we left [the UFC] on kind of rough terms with that push to Drakkar,” Stephens said referring to how he injured Drakkar Klose with a push during a staredown for their April 2021 matchup that was scratched after the incident, which Stephen seemed to glorify in the aftermath. “I know that wasn’t a good thing. I was on a losing streak, was in a different mindset at that time. I’ve always kept a great relationship with [UFC CEO] Dana [White]. When my youngest daughter was born, we were watching the UFC while my wife was giving birth. I shot him a [message], and he’s always gotten back to me if I ever need tickets. Just anything, he’s always just been there. The dude was there when I was in jail. He’s like a homie, right?

“But realistically, I was low-key in my mind, ‘I don’t know, I’ve already kind of had it with them. I kind of went my own route, I don’t know.’ And my wife, this all kind of came [together]

on her birthday before I took a trip back to Iowa to go see my mom, go see my family. She’s like, ‘You should shoot Dana a text.’ They just announced the Iowa card shortly after I’d fought in bare-knuckle .

“And I like, ‘I’ll tell you what. If you [write] the text, I’ll shoot it to him. You write it up, I’ll copy-paste,’” Stephens continued. “Sure enough, as I’m flying out Tuesday night to Des Moines, right as I’m on the plane, I shoot him the message, turn off my phone and I go spend the whole week in Des Moines. I didn’t hear back from him. I wake up on my uncle’s couch at four in the morning to head back home to San Diego, and I’ve got a message from him at one in the morning, like, ‘Hey man. I’ve lost my phone contacts. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.’ And this is from Dana. He’s like, ‘Hit me up, give me your number. Would love to hear from you. I’ll have [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] contact you.'”

After leaving the UFC, Stephens fought three times for the PFL, going 1-2. In 2023, he made his boxing debut against former UFC champion Jose Aldo. Stephens and Aldo fought to a majority draw. Stephens followed that with a decision loss to Chris Avila inside the boxing ring.

In late 2023, Stephens joined the ranks of BKFC. He is 3-0 with the bare knuckle boxing promotion. His most recent win was a January 2025 TKO victory over former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

Jeremy Stephens On One-Fight UFC Deal For UFC Des Moines

Stephens said his deal for the UFC Des Moines is for one-fight and that he opted for the standard UFC contract of show/win money over a flat fee.

“I’m betting on myself again. I could have gotten a bag from UFC or it was the show and win and I could have got a bag and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to bet on me again.”

When Helwani asked him why he was taking that chance, Stephens said, “It’s going to be better. I’m betting on me and I’m doing this for the love and support that I’ve gotten from the 515. I’m the best to ever do it out of Iowa.”

As for his future with BKFC, Stephens sounds happy with the organization, but unsure of what’s going on with his role in that promotion.

Man, love [BKFC president] David Feldman. I’ve got a great relationship with him. I’m still that (expletive) dude, bro. Ain’t nobody going to get me in bare-knuckle. It’s like going back in Triple A, putting the gloves on here. I’m still a nightmare and dangerous in a lot of situations without the gloves, but we reached out to Dave. As a Fortune 500 company of Jeremy Stephens, I have to look out for me, I have to do what’s best for me.

“When I fought Jimmie Rivera [in December 2023 with BKFC], he gave me a nice fat check, [then] I sat out for a year. No communication. April didn’t happen, May didn’t happen, June, July, and I fought ‘ODB’ [Bobby Taylor] in like September. So me and my management we were trying to get in contact with him … but it’s just hard to communicate with him. Really, I said this in the past, the only thing with Dave Feldman is the communication. And I don’t like that uncertainty.”

The UFC Des Moines fight card takes place on May 3 at Wells Fargo Center. Stephens is booked against Mason Jones for the event. We will have more on Jeremy Stephens and UFC Des Moines as the UFC Fight Night card takes shape.