UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens booked against Arnold Allen for November showdown
Jeremy Stephens, the Number 9 ranked UFC Featherweight has been booked to fight Arnold Allen (ranked Number 8 in the UFC Featherweight rankings) in the undercard of the Glover Teixeira vs Thiago Santos Fight Night scheduled for November 7 at the UFC Apex in Vegas.
Stephens is on a poor run in the Featherweight division and is without a win in his last 5 (one of them is a no contest). The 34-year-old lost his last fight through a brutal knockout at the hands of Calvin Kattar.
Allen is one of the brightest prospects of the division and is on a nine-fight win streak. Still just 26-years-old, he's 7-0 in the UFC after beating established names such as Makwan Amirkhani, Gilbert Melendez and Nik Lentz.
Jeremy Stephens still a force to reckon with at Featherweight
UFC's Featherweight division is one of the most stacked in the company. The fights booked in the division for the rest of 2020 is likely to throw up a number one contender to take on Alexander Volkanovski, after the champions' successful defence against Max Holloway.
Stephens, a perennial contender, has had a rough couple of years facing top tier opposition in José Aldo, Zabit Magomedsharipov, Yair Rodríguez and then Calvin Kattar. The American missed weight for the fight against Kattar where he was knocked out in the second round.
Despite the downturn in fortunes, Stephens remains one of the most feared strikers due to his powerful right hand. However, each of his last few opponents has game-planned intelligently to avoid his power side.
English Mixed Martial artist, Allen is another UFC import from European promotion the Cage Warriors. A great grappler, Allen will challenge the takedown defence of Stephens in the fight. The Englishman has two submissions and five decision wins in his UFC run.
Contenders Brain Ortega and the Korean Zombie are due to fight in October, with the winner likely to get a shot at the Australian champion. Former champion Holloway still remains one of the standout fighters in the division despite not being booked for a fight on the horizon.