Jeremy Stephens has opened up on his decision to part ways with the UFC and sign with the PFL.
Stephens, who fought 34 times with the UFC, says he wanted easier matchups but instead the promotion was giving him up-and-comers. With that, the promotion let him go and he signed with PFL as he is going to chase the million dollars at lightweight.
“I asked [the UFC] to give me a favorable matchup,” Stephens said on The MMA Hour. “I’ve been fighting beasts, a murderers row for two decades, and I just felt like I was getting iced out. Only fighting once a year, that’s not good on the bank account. I’m just trying to be typical, just like you, I’m trying to provide for my family and the only way I can do that is to fight, and they weren’t really fighting me.
“I got options to go other places once that contract was up. I didn’t even realize I was up on the contract. Probably almost five months went by on the contract, and I didn’t realize my contract was up. I thought I had one more fight on there, and I searched my options and PFL, we’re gonna go do our best to knock everybody the f*ck out and get a million dollars.”
The hope for Jeremy Stephens is to fight Anthony Pettis in the tournament and get that one back. The two fought back at UFC 136 with Pettis winning a split decision. According to Stephens, he says Pettis is out of shape and it’s a scrap he knows he wins.
“Definitely a potential matchup,” Stephens said. “But I’ve seen Anthony Pettis at the UFC, we were hanging, shaking hands, but honestly bro, he looked fat and out of shape. His cheeks looked like cheeseburgers. That boy looks like he’s getting paid too much. So I would love to run that back with Anthony. The last time, I turned him into a wrestler, he just wanted to wrestle me the whole time. We were in a different place and space at that time, I think now we could bring a lot more violence and action-packed, and I’m gonna be in better shape than that boy, trust me. He’s eating too good.”
