Jeremy Stephens: “The King Is Home” in BKFC Debut

Jeremy Stephens makes his bare-knuckle boxing debut and does so on December 2nd. Stephens will clash in a lightweight contest against Jimmie Rivera. The fistic fireworks go down at BKFC 56 in what is being called the biggest event in company history.

Stephens spoke to me before this massive bare-knuckle boxing event. Excerpts from our chat can be found below.

Jeremy Stephens

One of the first things I wanted to touch on was I spoke to Jimmie Rivera. He was saying Jeremy Stephens is a guy who really has the right style of mindset for BKFC.

How long have you been thinking about engaging in bare-knuckle boxing prior to this BKFC 56 bout announcement being signed? It would seem like a natural fit for you.

“People always mentioned it to me. It just never came across because I’ve just been busy with UFC for so long. In the process of becoming a boxer which kind of helped me out for this and this kind of just fell into my lap. So, this opportunity, it does fit my style. Definitely see what other people are talking about. I did this before it was ever even entertainment. I feel like the king is home now.”

BKFC 56

Another thing that I spoke to Jimmie about was that you guys have similar career arcs in as far as UFC veterans and whatnot, albeit in different weight classes.

I kind of asked him this as well is this an opponent that you always saw as a potential opponent or maybe not because of that weight class difference I mentioned?

“Yeah, nobody ever crossed my mind. The only thing that ever crossed my mind was being a training partner with Dominick Cruz and him fighting at 135 pounds in UFC. Other than that, I’ve never even thought about Jimmie Rivera.”

Watch live FREE BKFC 56 prelim fights at 9pm ET on Dec. 2. below:

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Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

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