Jeremy Stephens was always open to UFC reunion, especially if he could finally fight ‘cocaine Conor McGregor’

Jeremy Stephens left the UFC on good phrases however there was nonetheless shock and awe that he was abruptly returning to his outdated stomping grounds for a battle in opposition to Mason Jones on the upcoming UFC Des Moines card on Could 2.

Now preventing in his house state of Iowa is smart however Stephens is contemporary off an enormous win over ex-UFC champion Eddie Alvarez in BKFC and it appeared his future was set as a bare-knuckle fighter. That each one modified on Thursday when Stephens was abruptly again on the UFC roster however he by no means discounted that potential reunion — even after he shattered Alvarez’s jaw again in January.

Simply a few days faraway from that battle, Stephens instructed MMA Preventing he was open to returning to the UFC, particularly if there was an opportunity that he might finally result in a battle in opposition to Conor McGregor.

“I’ve bought alternatives perhaps go within the UFC, preventing Conor over there, BKFC, he’s an proprietor over there,” Stephens mentioned again in January. “I put myself on this f*cking second. I risked all of it on me. I manifested this. I turned a delusion into actuality. There’s nobody else hotter and extra deserving proper now than Jeremy Stephens, the f*cking killer heathen.

“I instructed motherf*ckers, you throw a dart in center of the U.S., the 505, it lands in Des Moines, Iowa, the center that pumps this nation and I’m all f*cking coronary heart. Nobody’s bought extra coronary heart than me.”

Stephens knew was in an ideal place to capitalize on an enormous alternative following that win over Alvarez as a result of he wasn’t locked down in a long-term contract.

Whereas returning to the UFC doesn’t imply he’ll by no means battle in BKFC once more, Stephens acknowledged this risk existed as a result of for all of the methods he’s loved his time competing in bare-knuckle and even boxing, his roots all the time return to blended martial arts.

“I’m a free agent. I might do one battle within the UFC,” Stephens mentioned. “[Conor McGregor is] over in BKFC as an element proprietor. That’s delusion into actuality. After we locked eyes, the eyes they by no means lie. That’s an actual f*cking quote. I’ve been saying that each one day. I’ll all the time say that.”

Simply moments after he beat Alvarez to say arguably one of many greatest wins of his profession, Stephens ended up staring down McGregor within the ring with the Irish celebrity promising that they’d meet at some point sooner or later with no gloves on.

McGregor, who grew to become a part-owner in BKFC in 2024, has vowed time and time once more that he plans to finally crossover into bare-knuckle preventing however with two bouts nonetheless remaining on his UFC contract, that nearly assuredly has to occur first.

That’s why Stephens didn’t low cost a potential return to the UFC with hopes that he would possibly get the prospect to welcome McGregor again to the cage following a four-year-long layoff after struggling a devastating damaged leg in his final look again in 2021.

“He’s having enjoyable. ‘Cocaine Conor,’ he’s having enjoyable,” Stephens mentioned. “He’s selling. He’s not getting emotionally connected. I can inform after I look in a motherf*cker’s eye. He was submissive reaching out his hand already after we lock [eyes]. He’s simply right here for promotion. He actually needs to most likely be preventing. He’s making f*cking thousands and thousands. Have a look at the eyes, they’re not mendacity. I’m within the alternative, I ain’t no Logan Paul, I ain’t no Jake Paul. I clearly don’t do the numbers that they do however I’m the extra f*cking scary, violent dude.

“I can do MMA as nicely. Conor can get round these boxers and he nearly breaks them as a result of he can simply kick them, take them down, and strangle the f*ck out of them. You’ll be able to’t try this with one other man in me like that, bro. I can calf-kick. I can break your f*cking wimpy ass f*cking legs. I’ve knockout energy. I do know and I’ve been sure of [it].”

The historical past between the fighters dates again to an notorious interplay on the UFC 205 press convention in 2016 when Stephens piped up that he was the true hardest-hitting featherweight after McGregor was requested about essentially the most harmful opponent on stage with him.

McGregor responded by saying “Who the f*ck is that man?” and the New York Metropolis crowd ripped up in laughter and applause.

Ever since then, Stephens has been circling a possible showdown in opposition to McGregor and now that he’s again within the UFC, which may lastly be an actual risk.

“Individuals are like ‘you actually suppose you may beat Conor?’ He’s a f*cking human being,” Stephens mentioned. “Like yeah, I do know I can. Now at the moment, ‘Cocaine Conor,’ I’ll f*cking knock him out. In naked knuckle, it will even be worse for him.

“However I’m that dude, I can truly go over to UFC, battle one battle over there if that was the best way it performed out. Delusions into actuality, proper? It’s alternative. Now it’s not too distant.”

Not lengthy after signing to return to the UFC, Stephens as soon as once more heated up his rivalry with McGregor by sending a message to “The Infamous” to remind him that their enterprise is much from completed.

“BKFC, UFC, Conor McGregor you can’t run from me,” Stephens wrote on Twitter. “I’ll discover you and I’ll kill you boy! Your time is up, I bought you a entrance row seat in Iowa, too. Wells Fargo occasion heart, my hometown. Watch me break one other jaw.”