The UFC is heading to Des Moines, Iowa on May 3rd the promotion officially announced last night. While fights have already been announced and contracts have been signed for the Des Moines card, the location wasn’t officially announced until last night.
In the announcement the promotion announced the main event of Cory Sandhagen – Deiveson Figueiredo as well as Chito Vera – Mario Bautista. However, one of the fights that was announced raised some eye brows and that was the announcement that Iowa native Jeremy Stephens (29-21) would be returning to the octagon against Mason Jones (15-2, 1 NC).
Before diving into Stephens, let’s take a look at his opponent Mason Jones. Jones was signed by the UFC back in 2021 when he was 10-0 and he was a Cage Warriors champion. However, after going 1-2, 1 NC in four fights, he was cut from the promotion and returned to Cage Warriors. He’s won four fights in a row and now he’s been brought back for this.
UFC Des Moines
I didn’t have a Jeremy Stephens return to the octagon on my bingo card for this year. Stephens had become a star for BKFC over the last year and a half. He just headlined their Knuckle Mania card back in January. However, Stephens announced after that fight that he was a free agent.
While he said he was open to anything including a UFC return, I figured he was destined to return to BKFC. However, the shocking announcement came last night that Stephens was back inside the octagon. When Stephens makes the walk in May, it’ll be his first MMA bout since November 2022 when he was fighting for the PFL.
Stephens went just 1-7, 1 NC in his last nine MMA bouts. However, his career has completely turned around since moving to Bare Knuckle. It’ll be interesting to see him back inside the octagon.