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Tune into SpikeTV on June 21!
 Jeremy "Lil Heathen" Stephens
vs.
Spencer "The King" Fisher
Ultimate Fighter Finale:
Team Rampage vs Team
Forrest Finale
The Palms, Las Vegas
Live on Spike - Saturday, June 21st at 9pm ET/PT.
Thanks
to all my sponsors!! Thanks to all the people who are helping me prepare for the
fight. Its been 8 long weeks of preparation and with great sacrifice is great
reward. Want to thank DES MOINES MIXED MARTIAL ARTS, DES MOINES JIU JITSU, TEAM
ROUNDKICK 'N PETE PETERSON, and 7FLAGS JOHN STROMI for all the preparation. MUCH
APPRECIATED! Thanks for everyone who is coming to show love!!! and those who are
not going are more than welcome to hit up COACHS CORNER, my sponsorship place,
to tune in for FREE on SPIKE TV this SATURDAY JUNE 21st!!!! also shout out to my
FAMILY 'n FRIENDS for keeping me in line and sticking through this to support my
dream.
I KNOW MY WHOLE CITY IS DEPENDING ON ME an I WONT FORGET YOU!!! 515 baby!!
thanks 'n God Bless! js
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Recent interview on UFC.com
(Read Spencer Fisher's interview -click here)
Jun-17-2008
Jeremy Stephens – Prepping for An All-Iowa
Throwdown
By Thomas Gerbasi
Iowa. Until the recent emergence of states like Nevada and
Massachusetts as breeding grounds for producing top-notch mixed
martial artists, it was a state that set the standard for churning
out fighter after fighter to compete at the UFC level.
And there was never any middle ground if you were an Iowa fighter –
you either made it or you didn’t; you were either a contender or an
opponent. Harsh? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely. To those who emerged
from the Iowa scene - most bred under fire at Pat Miletich’s
Bettendorf camp - fighting wasn’t the ticket to after-parties and
your own t-shirt - it was all you knew and all you could ever
picture doing. It wasn’t a ‘lifestyle’, it was your life.
Des Moines’ Jeremy Stephens knows that feeling.
“I’ve been a fighter all my life,” said the lightweight prospect,
who will take on fellow Iowan Spencer Fisher this Saturday at the
Ultimate Fighter finale in Las Vegas. “I fought through some
difficult times in my life and I feel like fighting’s just for me. I
was born a fighter and I want to be made into a champion.”
It doesn’t come overnight though, and despite being only 22 years
old, Stephens has more than paid his dues to get here. And not just
through 17 pro fights, but through his wars in the gym with fellow
lightweight up and comer Josh Neer, sparring sessions that could
probably be aired on pay-per-view and secure pretty impressive buy
rates on their own.
“They’re pretty intense,” said Stephens of his gym wars with Neer.
“We usually try starting off light, but then he’ll say that I hit
him too hard or something and he’ll start bombing on me and I’ll
start bombing on him. (Laughs) Sometimes we get into it a little
bit, but afterwards, it’s all love.”
You can’t buy that type of education, and for Stephens, going
toe-to-toe regularly with a guy nicknamed ‘The Dentist’ for his
tendency to remove opponents’ teeth has given him a few bumps and
bruises, but more importantly, the confidence that he can hang with
anybody in the world at 155 pounds.
“Training with Josh Neer and sparring with him a lot, I realized
that I could punch back with him and it gave me the confidence at a
young age to throw hands with people and I knew that I was on that
level,” he said. “So now when I fight tougher opponents, it really
doesn’t bother me because I know I can land that one shot that can
end them at any moment.”
A pro since 2005, Stephens made his bones on the local circuit,
fighting in shows entitled Downtown Destruction, Jungle Madness, and
Thanksgiving Throwdown. The wins piled up, and he avenged his first
loss to Chris Mickle twice by knockout, but when he was brought into
the UFC in May of 2007 to take on perennial contender Din Thomas, no
one gave him much of a chance to win. And he didn’t win, getting
submitted by Thomas in the second round. But up until the end,
Stephens showed the talent and heart to hang on the UFC level and
for a young man who admits that earlier in his life that he was
“crazier and probably prison-bound,” due to a lack of rules and
focus, he suddenly had something tangible to reach for.
Stephens would stop Nick Walker in a local show two months later,
and then in September of last year, ‘Lil’ Heathen’ returned to the
Octagon with a three round unanimous decision win over Diego Saraiva.
But it was his January stoppage of The Ultimate Fighter 5’s Cole
Miller that really opened eyes around the MMA world.
“For the people who really know me and who have seen Cole fight in
the past, they would have seen that I have a lot of heart, that I
don’t stop and that I was going to beat him,” said Stephens, who
halted Miller in the second round. “For the fans that really didn’t
know, they saw that all that was behind him was just a bunch of
hype. I figured that if I just put pressure on him and beat him up a
little bit that he would eventually stop. But I think I did shock a
lot of people with that fight.”
Someone he didn’t shock was one of his training partners from the
Thomas fight – Spencer Fisher. Stephens respects the 32-year old
veteran, calling him a “really cool guy to hang out with,” but he
will put all that to the side when the bell rings Saturday night.
“I’ve got a family I’ve got to provide for and I have my goals and
dreams, just like he’s got a family, so when it comes down to it, I
don’t mind punching him in the face and trying to use him as a
steppingstone to get to the top of the 155 division,” said Stephens.
So no hint of hesitation about hitting a buddy in the face?
“Not really, it’s just business,” he said. “We’ve both got the
personality that we’re just gonna go out there and put on a good
show for the fans, and then after that go out and have a drink
together.”
Oh yeah, I forgot, this is the same guy who punches Neer like he’s
his worst enemy and then counts him as one of his best friends.
Point taken. But that’s what it’s like for an Iowa fighter. When the
bell rings, there’s no such thing as friendship, but when the
round’s over, you’re pals again, with an unbreakable bond that can
only be forged in the most stressful of situations. And it’s those
situations which make you a fighter. Stephens, who has been doing
this since he was 16, knows this better than most.
“The toughest part is just coming into the gym every day,” he said.
“I love to train, but sometimes the wear and tear on your body gets
exhausting. But when it comes to fighting, I love to go in there and
perform – that’s my job.”
Now he’s ready for a promotion – from prospect to contender. First
he’ll have to get past Fisher.
“I’m training very hard, I’m very focused, and I’m buckling down to
get to that top ten spot,” he said. “So with training as hard as I
am, I’m pretty confident that I’m gonna beat Spencer. I have much
respect for him, but it’s just my time right now and I’m gonna put
myself up there. I see this ending with me and top and then me
taking on some of the other guys in the division.”
And if you’re one of the top guns at 155 pounds, would you want to
fight Stephens, a fighter who may not be the finished product yet,
but one whose tenacity and willingness to go into the basement to
get the win means a painful night, win or lose? Probably not, but
they may not have a choice soon, because this Iowa-bred fighter
isn’t about to be an opponent – he’s dead-set on following the path
paved by the champions who emerged from the Midwest before him.
“I’m very goal-oriented and I always strive for more,” said
Stephens. “I never just settle for being the best. People always ask
me what my favorite fight is, and I always tell them ‘my next one,’
because I’m always going to be that much better in the future.”
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