Jeremy Stephens is eager to finally settle the score with Conor McGregor, and he thinks it makes a whole lot of sense.
Stephens (28-19 MMA, 15-18 UFC) had a famous press conference run-in with McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in 2015 that resulted in the often-used “Who the fook is that guy?” line, that was created when Stephens tried to chime in on the Irishman’s answer about the most difficult matchups for him.
That was years ago, however, and the two have had splintered paths since. McGregor went on to win UFC titles in two divisions, while Stephens has remained a middling name across the lightweight and featherweight divisions.
Currently, though, both men are coming off first-round losses one week removed from each other. McGregor memorably snapped his leg in his UFC 264 trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier, while Stephens was submitted by Mateusz Gamrot in just 65 seconds at UFC on ESPN 26.
It’s probably going to be about a year before McGregor makes a full recovery and can return to the octagon after his injury, and Stephens thinks he’s is the perfect comeback foe (via Twitter):
Just thinking… the true fight to make is me and Connor. He broke his ankle, someone dove for my ankle. We both like to fight and keep it standing. Both power both different. Plus I like to calve kick and have wide range of KO’s
— Jeremy Stephens (@LiLHeathenMMA) July 20, 2021
Just thinking… the true fight to make is me and Connor. He broke his ankle, someone dove for my ankle. We both like to fight and keep it standing. Both power both different. Plus I like to calve kick and have wide range of KO’s
All signs point to McGregor wanting to compete again when he’s healthy, and it remains to be seen what the landscape will look like when that happens, and which fights will make sense.
Stephens, for his part, does not have the same sort of security, it would seem. “Lil’ Heathen” is winless over his past six bouts, with the submission defeat to Gamrot being the fastest of his career at just over a minute.