There have been rumblings over the last couple of months that former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion BJ Penn has the itch to climb back into the cage after just announcing his retirement in October at UFC 137.

The rumblings have apparently turned to contract talks as Josh …

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May 16, 2012 – If you missed out on one of the year’s most thrilling brawls, check out Korean Zombie vs. Dustin Poirier fight highlights, courtesy of FOX Sports.

UFC on FUEL 3 took place May 15, 2012, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA. Upstart featherweight contenders Chan Sung Jung (13-3) and Dustin Poirier (12-2) squared off in the night’s main event, with the winner likely becoming the next No. 1 contender in the UFC’s 145-pound division. Catch the video highlights below.

For more on Jung’s spectacular victory, check out the play-by-play from MMA Fighting’s own Ben Fowlkes.

Round 1: Jung catches a Poirer body kick early on and uses it to bring him to the mat. Poirer pops up quickly and clinches him against the fence. Short elbows in close by Poirer, but Jung gets the takedown and goes to work from Poirer’s guard. Jung gets his posture and throws down some elbows from the top. Poirer seems to have a cut near the top of his forehead already, and those things sure can bleed. Jung gets a little space and eats an upkick before Poirer scrambles up and reverses to get top position. Jung gets to his feet against the fence and takes a hard left from Poirer. They both open up with hooks, and Poirer shoots for a takedown before the horn sounds.MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Jung.

Round 2: Just like in the first, Jung catches a Poirer body kick and this time adds a straight right as he uses it to take Poirer down. Good ground-and-pound by Jung. He could really do some work here if he can maintain the top position. Jung fakes a pass attempt and slams a hard left home. He lets Poirer up, then moments later rocks him with a big knee and reverses a takedown attempt to wind up in mount. Poirer is holding on from the bottom, but Jung rolls for an armbar. He transitions to a triangle, then back to an armbar, then triangle. Somehow, Poirer holds on and gets the top position. Jung tries another triangle and it looks tight, but the horn saves Poirer. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Jung.

Round 3: Poirer swings wildly to start the third, maybe trying to do too much all at once in order to get back into this. Jung resists the urge to brawl (for now, anyway), and keeps attacking with jabs and kicks. Jung slips a punch and gets a body lock takedown, adding a couple short punches on the mat before brining the action back to the feet. Poirer is lunging in with his punches, but Jung seems to be slowing way down. He may have expended too much energy trying to finish those submissions in the second. Jung keeps backing Poirer up, landing solid shots when Poirer’s back hits the fence. The end the round hammering each other with big hooks. Poirer smiles through the blood on his way to his corner. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 for Jung.

Round 4: Poirer tries to get the jab working to start the round. A big uppercut from Jung backs him up and a knee rocks him. A woozy Poirer shoots for a desperate takedown attempt. Jung locks up a D’arce choke and rolls to cinch it in. Poirer is stuck, and has to tap. Great performance and a big win for the Zombie.

UFC on FUEL 3 results: Chan Sung Jung def. Dustin Poirer via submission (D’arce choke) at 1:07 of round four.

Read More: chan sung jung vs dustin poirier video, chan sung jung vs dustin poirier fight video, ufc on fuel 3 video highlights, Chan Sung Jung (MMA), Dustin Poirier (MMA)

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Chicago chefs from more than a dozen restaurants, including Old Town Social, Big Jones, Osteria Via Stato, City Provisions, will pair up with local farmers and local brewers and vintners to present Localicious one of the tastiest and sustainable food fests of the year. Tickets are $75.

The party is part of the Family Farmed Expo, a three-day event of workshops, discussions and lectures that finishes Saturday with the family and foodie-friendly Good Food Festival at the UIC Forum (725 W Roosevelt Road).

Dozens of farms will have booths for those who want to shop around for a CSA subscription this year, top Chicago chefs–including Stephanie Izard (pictured right), Bill Kim, Paul Kahan and Paul Virant–will present cooking demos and local food authorities will present workshops on everything from keeping backyard chicken and canning to gardening and whole animal butchery.

Author and Weston Price Foundation founder Sally Fallon Morell (interviewed by the Tribune here) will give a lecture on healthy traditional diets at 9 a.m.

Food festival tickets are free (for kids under 12) to $35 for all access including the Fallon lecture if you buy them before Saturday. Adult tickets to the festival alond are $10.

Photo: Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune

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Ready for another week of affordable, multi-course meals at top Chicago restaurants?

Heck, yeah. 

Chicago Chef Week is underway, running through Saturday, during which some 52 restaurants will feature three-course lunches for $22 and three-course dinners for $33.

It sounds a bit like Chicago Restaurant Week, doesn’t it? Same prices, and indeed, some of the same restaurants. This week is a bit shorter and has far fewer participants, but you’ll still be able to dine at the likes of Avec, Big Jones, Bistronomic, Boka, C-House, Cibo Matto, Green Zebra, Hearty, Mana Food Bar, MK, Nana, Nightwood, Perennial, Sable, Sepia, Sola, Terzo Piano, Veerasway and Zealous.

You can find all the participating restaurants, and make online reservations, at the Chicago Chef Week website. Clicking on individual restaurants will link you to their respective sites, but as of this morning, very few had bothered to post their Chicago Chef Week menus. Think of it as the thrill of anticipation.

 

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According to a new report from MMA Junkie, number one UFC Middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen will be on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s agenda next week at their May 21st meeting.

Sonnen will likely have to answers questions regarding a therapeutic use exemption he app…

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UFC on FUEL TV 3 is set to go Tuesday evening after all fighters on the card tipped the scales at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA today.

The event will be headlined with a featherweight fight between Chan-Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier.

Complete results below:

Main…

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May 14, 2012 – Jeremy Stephens can’t re-program himself. Even if he could, he probably wouldn’t want to. Win or lose, his style of fighting is pleasing to himself. That doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t recognize potential shortcomings. Having entered the UFC at age 20, Stephens’ game – which was arguably too much for his peers in regional circuit around him – simply didn’t have the time to earn the refinement it needed. Of course, his contemporaries in the UFC and the game itself continue to rapidly evolve as well.

In the wake of the loss to Anthony Pettis, Stephens acknowledges some changes had to be made. Some were already in motion, as ‘Lil’ Heathen’ had earned his purple belt in jiu-jitsu with the gi. But other, more immediate alterations to his life and preparation were in order. He needed a camp with more sparring partners, hands-on attention and the right kind of environment to continue to add skills to his arsenal.

Ahead of his bout with Donald Cerrone at UFC on FUEL 3, though, Stephens believes he doesn’t want to get away from who he is or what got him to his current placement. If he’s going to beat Cerrone, he believes it will happen by using a game that at its core is still unchanged. Everywhere else, sure, he’s more than welcome to add a higher degree of sophistication. But as he put it, ‘going for broke’ is part of who he is and not something he’s prepared to let go.

In this interview with MMA Fighting, Stephens discusses what went wrong against Anthony Pettis, proclaims his desire to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, explains why he believes Donald Cerrone broke against Nate Diaz, how Eric Del Fierro has improved his striking, training with Alliance MMA exclusively and getting over staph infection.

Full audio and partial transcription below:

Luke Thomas: Let’s get right into this fight you have with Cerrone. It was originally going to be against Yves Edwards and you’re filling in. Talk to me about why you took this fight on short notice rather than taking a different fight. What was attractive about fighting Donald Cerrone?

Jeremy Stephens: To me, it really wasn’t short notice. I had about 10-12 weeks to prepare for the fight and I was actually looking to fight sooner than that but ended up getting a staph infection which sidelined me for a little bit. Then we got word that Yves was out and Donald Cerrone would be May 15th. I wanted to fight sooner, but when I heard Donald Cerrone, I knew it would be a good fight for the fans and for me and I had to take it. It’s a good opportunity, once in a lifetime to fight someone that’s going to come at me the way that I do and it’s a fight for the fans for sure.

Luke Thomas: How’d you get staph and how bad was it?

Jeremy Stephens: Oh, it’s just something. It’s just on the mat. I’m on the mat all the year-round training. Of course you’re going to get something like that. It was kinda bad. I ended up having it pretty bad so I had to sit back and take care of it. No worries, it gave me time to relax, ease my mind and think about the future.

Luke Thomas: Was that the first time you’ve had staph?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I had it once when I was 18-19 years old. I had it about 2-3 times.

Luke Thomas: Is that common? How often do you see your fellow fighters get staph?

Jeremy Stephens: It’s pretty common. It’s on the mat, staph’s already on your skin. You can get it from ingrown hair. My aunt got it one time from washing dishes, she had a small cut and it just gets infected, you know? It’s pretty common.

Luke Thomas: Alright, let’s talk about Donald Cerrone. Is he in any way in your mind similar in any kind of capacity to any previous opponents you’ve faced?

Jeremy Stephens: I don’t think he’s similar as to fighting, but he brings it. He comes to fight. He comes forward and he’s similar in other aspects. Donald Cerrone likes to fight and so do I, but I feel like I have the advantage over him in that area.

Luke Thomas: You mentioned something in your video blogs or I think it was a video interview that I felt was interesting. Right now, correct me if I’m wrong, you’re a purple belt in the gi, is that correct?

Jeremy Stephens: Yep, that’s correct.

Luke Thomas: Who are you a purple belt under?

Jeremy Stephens: The Gracie Humaita family and Dean Lister.

Luke Thomas: A lot of guys who start MMA who do the no-gi thing, some do no-gi, some don’t. Tell me what your trip through using the gi has been like. Were you initially resistant to using it?

Jeremy Stephens: Just actually when I started. I live in San Diego now. I’ve been there four years and I originally started in Iowa. The highest belt there was a purple belt at the time and I never got into it. When I started in California, I realized that a lot of the fighters were getting into the gi and it was just something that interests me after my career. I want a good longevity career and I want my black belt to go along with my gym as my credentials in the sport afterwards. I don’t want to just be known as a UFC fighter. I want to have my black belt and have some credentials that would be to my advantage after my fight career is over.

Luke Thomas: And you fundamentally believe that training in the gi sharpens technique versus strictly no-gi?

Jeremy Stephens: Living proof, brother. (laughs)

Luke Thomas: Tell me what it has done to your game. Obviously submission defense is a component, but do you feel like you’re in a position now where, obviously you’ve won Knockout of the Night three times, do you feel like you’re in a position now where you can leverage your submission game to win UFC fights?

Jeremy Stephens: Yeah, definitely. I use it, when it comes to fighting, I use it to a fighting advantage. Like when I get a guy in a good situation or inside, I’m not just going to try to submit you. I’m gonna try to cut your eyes open or go for the knockout at all times, but it does help my game.

It helps my defense. It helps me get in better position. It really slowed me down and made me focus on technique instead of just using strength or scrambling. Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage for everyone who gets in the gi that’s a fighter. Everybody is also different as well, too, but as far as my game, it helped me out a lot.

Luke Thomas: Let’s talk about Alliance MMA. How long have you been with them?

Jeremy Stephens: I’ve been training with them off and on since I came to San Diego, but full-time was actually for this camp so I’ve been with these guys anywhere from 15-20 weeks now and I’ve been training with them full-time and mixing things up over there. Coach Eric Del Fierro has been my gameplanner and he’s been a bright coach to have in my corner.

Luke Thomas: Talk to me about your evolution. What was it before where you were part-time with them and now you’re sort of exclusively with them. What changed?

Jeremy Stephens: I was just living on the other side of town. I was living in Point Loma which a half hour away from Chula Vista. I was training with another group of guys at some other gyms. I was training with K.J. Noons and a lot of different guys and I just needed a good team, a solid team around me and some of the guys were starting to disappear and I needed to be in a gym were a lot of guys had the same similar aspects as me and were getting after it so I had to make that change.

Luke Thomas: Coach Eric Del Fierro is an interesting guy. The reason why, fairly or unfairly, is he has a reputation of taking guys who are strikers and gives them very polished technique but, this is not my personal opinion, playing devil’s advocate here, maybe he also makes fighters not go for the kill. How would you respond to that?

Jeremy Stephens: I think that’s the fighter’s aspect. You’re the only one going into the Octagon for 15 minutes. You have to know how to train and know what to do. As far as guys not going for the kill or playing the technical aspect, you can’t place that on a coach. Maybe that has some of an influence on that, but the fighter has to know that he’s only in there for 15 minutes and he has to do everything he can to take that guy out.

That’s not my mindset. You can train me jiu-jitsu technique and put me in a fight knowing I’m just going to be dropping bombs on you the whole time. Yeah, I know the technique’s there, but I’ll use it to land my strikes. That’s how I evolve. I get around the best grapplers, the best wrestlers, the best strikers and I use their techniques, but my mindset’s always to take guys out, to go for the kill. To me, that’s the fighter’s aspects. I think maybe some guys are thinking a bit way too much and are maybe trying to stick to the game plan just to win the fight. There’s a lot of pressure there, but my style’s always to go for broke and to swing big.

Luke Thomas: So what has Eric Del Fierro done for your particular game?

Jeremy Stephens: He’s just helped me get back to pressuring guys the old style. Pretty much no respect of any of the guys’ combinations or power. I know guys ain’t hitting as hard as me and I know I have a good chin. He’s got a good style for me. He makes me pressure when he holds pads. He makes me throw a lot of explosive powerful combinations.

He really hasn’t changed too much of my game. He’s just sharpened me up and helped me out mentally. That’s the big part, just the mental aspect. He’s really helped me define the person I am as a fighter and I’ve truly sharpened that tool back up and I think that was something I lost in my last fight and now it’s back again and it’s a whole new energy.

Luke Thomas: What’s notable in this fight is you’re coming off a loss and so is Cerrone. I want to start with you. The Pettis fight is weird because I didn’t expect him to wrestle as much as he did. What went wrong for you in that particular fight?

Jeremy Stephens: I think, no excuses, I think my head just wasn’t in the game. I had a good camp. I was in good shape, but my head was just not in the game. I had a lot of things going on outside the ring and I just didn’t show up to that fight mentally. That’s the biggest asset of the fight game is having your mental backing you up and it just wasn’t there for me that night. I wasn’t my normal self. I had to take some time off to kind of re-energize and reboot the system.

Luke Thomas: You’re 25 years old and, if I’m not mistaken, you’re UFC debut was against Din Thomas at UFC 71. Were you burnt out?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I wouldn’t say I was burnt out. I think I just had some personal things going on in my life that distracted me a little bit. I allowed that to get into my mind and I just really wasn’t focused 100 percent on the fight and that’s some change that I had to make and some mistakes that I had to learn from to move and grow forward and grow as a man. It happens. Things go on and life goes on. You can’t dwell on it. You’ve just got to move forward and just try to get better and learn from it.

Luke Thomas: Donald Cerrone lost to Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is a top competitor and there’s no shame there, but from your vantage point, why did Cerrone lose that fight?

Jeremy Stephens: I just don’t think he knows how to move his head. He didn’t capitalize. He fought with a lot of emotion and gassed himself out and I felt like he kind of gave up in the third round. Nate Diaz was fingering him from across the cage like he was a little girl. He didn’t have it in his eyes. He kind of just broke and took his ass-whooping.

Luke Thomas: That’s interesting you say that. Out of all the guys that have a reputation for toughness, Donald Cerrone is probably at the top of the list. Do you believe that reputation is undeserved?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I think Donald Cerrone is a tough guy. He’s definitely a game competitor but when someone is just as tough as you and they’re putting on the pressure and beating you up, you have plenty of time, five minutes of the last round to go in there and go for the kill, go for broke. You’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain and I just don’t think that he really went for it. There’s times where I’ve been losing in the third round and I’ve come out with the knockout in the last couple seconds and I felt like he just kind of gave up, took his ass-whooping.

Luke Thomas: So 2012, we’re almost halfway through. Obviously this is a big fight for you. Have you thought about what you want out of 2012? Obviously you want a bunch of wins, but have you thought about how many times you want to fight and where you want to be by the time 2013 starts?

Jeremy Stephens: No. All my focus is on this next fight. I have nothing else on my mind besides Donald Cerrone, getting that win and moving forward from there, but as of right now, this is the big picture. This is the light at the end of the tunnel. Tuesday is right around the corner. I’ve never felt so energized, never felt so good mentally and spiritually in my life. I’m ready to go take Donald Cerrone out and look forward to the future after that.

Luke Thomas: Who’s gonna be in your corner on Tuesday night?

Jeremy Stephens: Eric Del Fierro and then Adrian who’s also with Alliance and he’s my boxing coach, been helping me out and my coach Chaco. He’s from the other gym, but he’s a good mental aspect and a good person to have in my corner. He’s one of those guys that will probably be always in my corner.

Read More: Donald Cerrone (MMA), K.J. Noons (MMA), Jeremy Stephens (MMA), Anthony Pettis (MMA), Nate Diaz (MMA), Yves Edwards (MMA), UFC on FUEL TV 3

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Ready for another week of affordable, multi-course meals at top Chicago restaurants?

Heck, yeah. 

Chicago Chef Week is underway, running through Saturday, during which some 52 restaurants will feature three-course lunches for $22 and three-course dinners for $33.

It sounds a bit like Chicago Restaurant Week, doesn’t it? Same prices, and indeed, some of the same restaurants. This week is a bit shorter and has far fewer participants, but you’ll still be able to dine at the likes of Avec, Big Jones, Bistronomic, Boka, C-House, Cibo Matto, Green Zebra, Hearty, Mana Food Bar, MK, Nana, Nightwood, Perennial, Sable, Sepia, Sola, Terzo Piano, Veerasway and Zealous.

You can find all the participating restaurants, and make online reservations, at the Chicago Chef Week website. Clicking on individual restaurants will link you to their respective sites, but as of this morning, very few had bothered to post their Chicago Chef Week menus. Think of it as the thrill of anticipation.

 

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May 14, 2012 – Jeremy Stephens can’t re-program himself. Even if he could, he probably wouldn’t want to. Win or lose, his style of fighting is pleasing to himself. That doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t recognize potential shortcomings. Having entered the UFC at age 20, Stephens’ game – which was arguably too much for his peers in regional circuit around him – simply didn’t have the time to earn the refinement it needed. Of course, his contemporaries in the UFC and the game itself continue to rapidly evolve as well.

In the wake of the loss to Anthony Pettis, Stephens acknowledges some changes had to be made. Some were already in motion, as ‘Lil’ Heathen’ had earned his purple belt in jiu-jitsu with the gi. But other, more immediate alterations to his life and preparation were in order. He needed a camp with more sparring partners, hands-on attention and the right kind of environment to continue to add skills to his arsenal.

Ahead of his bout with Donald Cerrone at UFC on FUEL 3, though, Stephens believes he doesn’t want to get away from who he is or what got him to his current placement. If he’s going to beat Cerrone, he believes it will happen by using a game that at its core is still unchanged. Everywhere else, sure, he’s more than welcome to add a higher degree of sophistication. But as he put it, ‘going for broke’ is part of who he is and not something he’s prepared to let go.

In this interview with MMA Fighting, Stephens discusses what went wrong against Anthony Pettis, proclaims his desire to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, explains why he believes Donald Cerrone broke against Nate Diaz, how Eric Del Fierro has improved his striking, training with Alliance MMA exclusively and getting over staph infection.

Full audio and partial transcription below:

Luke Thomas: Let’s get right into this fight you have with Cerrone. It was originally going to be against Yves Edwards and you’re filling in. Talk to me about why you took this fight on short notice rather than taking a different fight. What was attractive about fighting Donald Cerrone?

Jeremy Stephens: To me, it really wasn’t short notice. I had about 10-12 weeks to prepare for the fight and I was actually looking to fight sooner than that but ended up getting a staph infection which sidelined me for a little bit. Then we got word that Yves was out and Donald Cerrone would be May 15th. I wanted to fight sooner, but when I heard Donald Cerrone, I knew it would be a good fight for the fans and for me and I had to take it. It’s a good opportunity, once in a lifetime to fight someone that’s going to come at me the way that I do and it’s a fight for the fans for sure.

Luke Thomas: How’d you get staph and how bad was it?

Jeremy Stephens: Oh, it’s just something. It’s just on the mat. I’m on the mat all the year-round training. Of course you’re going to get something like that. It was kinda bad. I ended up having it pretty bad so I had to sit back and take care of it. No worries, it gave me time to relax, ease my mind and think about the future.

Luke Thomas: Was that the first time you’ve had staph?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I had it once when I was 18-19 years old. I had it about 2-3 times.

Luke Thomas: Is that common? How often do you see your fellow fighters get staph?

Jeremy Stephens: It’s pretty common. It’s on the mat, staph’s already on your skin. You can get it from ingrown hair. My aunt got it one time from washing dishes, she had a small cut and it just gets infected, you know? It’s pretty common.

Luke Thomas: Alright, let’s talk about Donald Cerrone. Is he in any way in your mind similar in any kind of capacity to any previous opponents you’ve faced?

Jeremy Stephens: I don’t think he’s similar as to fighting, but he brings it. He comes to fight. He comes forward and he’s similar in other aspects. Donald Cerrone likes to fight and so do I, but I feel like I have the advantage over him in that area.

Luke Thomas: You mentioned something in your video blogs or I think it was a video interview that I felt was interesting. Right now, correct me if I’m wrong, you’re a purple belt in the gi, is that correct?

Jeremy Stephens: Yep, that’s correct.

Luke Thomas: Who are you a purple belt under?

Jeremy Stephens: The Gracie Humaita family and Dean Lister.

Luke Thomas: A lot of guys who start MMA who do the no-gi thing, some do no-gi, some don’t. Tell me what your trip through using the gi has been like. Were you initially resistant to using it?

Jeremy Stephens: Just actually when I started. I live in San Diego now. I’ve been there four years and I originally started in Iowa. The highest belt there was a purple belt at the time and I never got into it. When I started in California, I realized that a lot of the fighters were getting into the gi and it was just something that interests me after my career. I want a good longevity career and I want my black belt to go along with my gym as my credentials in the sport afterwards. I don’t want to just be known as a UFC fighter. I want to have my black belt and have some credentials that would be to my advantage after my fight career is over.

Luke Thomas: And you fundamentally believe that training in the gi sharpens technique versus strictly no-gi?

Jeremy Stephens: Living proof, brother. (laughs)

Luke Thomas: Tell me what it has done to your game. Obviously submission defense is a component, but do you feel like you’re in a position now where, obviously you’ve won Knockout of the Night three times, do you feel like you’re in a position now where you can leverage your submission game to win UFC fights?

Jeremy Stephens: Yeah, definitely. I use it, when it comes to fighting, I use it to a fighting advantage. Like when I get a guy in a good situation or inside, I’m not just going to try to submit you. I’m gonna try to cut your eyes open or go for the knockout at all times, but it does help my game.

It helps my defense. It helps me get in better position. It really slowed me down and made me focus on technique instead of just using strength or scrambling. Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage for everyone who gets in the gi that’s a fighter. Everybody is also different as well, too, but as far as my game, it helped me out a lot.

Luke Thomas: Let’s talk about Alliance MMA. How long have you been with them?

Jeremy Stephens: I’ve been training with them off and on since I came to San Diego, but full-time was actually for this camp so I’ve been with these guys anywhere from 15-20 weeks now and I’ve been training with them full-time and mixing things up over there. Coach Eric Del Fierro has been my gameplanner and he’s been a bright coach to have in my corner.

Luke Thomas: Talk to me about your evolution. What was it before where you were part-time with them and now you’re sort of exclusively with them. What changed?

Jeremy Stephens: I was just living on the other side of town. I was living in Point Loma which a half hour away from Chula Vista. I was training with another group of guys at some other gyms. I was training with K.J. Noons and a lot of different guys and I just needed a good team, a solid team around me and some of the guys were starting to disappear and I needed to be in a gym were a lot of guys had the same similar aspects as me and were getting after it so I had to make that change.

Luke Thomas: Coach Eric Del Fierro is an interesting guy. The reason why, fairly or unfairly, is he has a reputation of taking guys who are strikers and gives them very polished technique but, this is not my personal opinion, playing devil’s advocate here, maybe he also makes fighters not go for the kill. How would you respond to that?

Jeremy Stephens: I think that’s the fighter’s aspect. You’re the only one going into the Octagon for 15 minutes. You have to know how to train and know what to do. As far as guys not going for the kill or playing the technical aspect, you can’t place that on a coach. Maybe that has some of an influence on that, but the fighter has to know that he’s only in there for 15 minutes and he has to do everything he can to take that guy out.

That’s not my mindset. You can train me jiu-jitsu technique and put me in a fight knowing I’m just going to be dropping bombs on you the whole time. Yeah, I know the technique’s there, but I’ll use it to land my strikes. That’s how I evolve. I get around the best grapplers, the best wrestlers, the best strikers and I use their techniques, but my mindset’s always to take guys out, to go for the kill. To me, that’s the fighter’s aspects. I think maybe some guys are thinking a bit way too much and are maybe trying to stick to the game plan just to win the fight. There’s a lot of pressure there, but my style’s always to go for broke and to swing big.

Luke Thomas: So what has Eric Del Fierro done for your particular game?

Jeremy Stephens: He’s just helped me get back to pressuring guys the old style. Pretty much no respect of any of the guys’ combinations or power. I know guys ain’t hitting as hard as me and I know I have a good chin. He’s got a good style for me. He makes me pressure when he holds pads. He makes me throw a lot of explosive powerful combinations.

He really hasn’t changed too much of my game. He’s just sharpened me up and helped me out mentally. That’s the big part, just the mental aspect. He’s really helped me define the person I am as a fighter and I’ve truly sharpened that tool back up and I think that was something I lost in my last fight and now it’s back again and it’s a whole new energy.

Luke Thomas: What’s notable in this fight is you’re coming off a loss and so is Cerrone. I want to start with you. The Pettis fight is weird because I didn’t expect him to wrestle as much as he did. What went wrong for you in that particular fight?

Jeremy Stephens: I think, no excuses, I think my head just wasn’t in the game. I had a good camp. I was in good shape, but my head was just not in the game. I had a lot of things going on outside the ring and I just didn’t show up to that fight mentally. That’s the biggest asset of the fight game is having your mental backing you up and it just wasn’t there for me that night. I wasn’t my normal self. I had to take some time off to kind of re-energize and reboot the system.

Luke Thomas: You’re 25 years old and, if I’m not mistaken, you’re UFC debut was against Din Thomas at UFC 71. Were you burnt out?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I wouldn’t say I was burnt out. I think I just had some personal things going on in my life that distracted me a little bit. I allowed that to get into my mind and I just really wasn’t focused 100 percent on the fight and that’s some change that I had to make and some mistakes that I had to learn from to move and grow forward and grow as a man. It happens. Things go on and life goes on. You can’t dwell on it. You’ve just got to move forward and just try to get better and learn from it.

Luke Thomas: Donald Cerrone lost to Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is a top competitor and there’s no shame there, but from your vantage point, why did Cerrone lose that fight?

Jeremy Stephens: I just don’t think he knows how to move his head. He didn’t capitalize. He fought with a lot of emotion and gassed himself out and I felt like he kind of gave up in the third round. Nate Diaz was fingering him from across the cage like he was a little girl. He didn’t have it in his eyes. He kind of just broke and took his ass-whooping.

Luke Thomas: That’s interesting you say that. Out of all the guys that have a reputation for toughness, Donald Cerrone is probably at the top of the list. Do you believe that reputation is undeserved?

Jeremy Stephens: No, I think Donald Cerrone is a tough guy. He’s definitely a game competitor but when someone is just as tough as you and they’re putting on the pressure and beating you up, you have plenty of time, five minutes of the last round to go in there and go for the kill, go for broke. You’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain and I just don’t think that he really went for it. There’s times where I’ve been losing in the third round and I’ve come out with the knockout in the last couple seconds and I felt like he just kind of gave up, took his ass-whooping.

Luke Thomas: So 2012, we’re almost halfway through. Obviously this is a big fight for you. Have you thought about what you want out of 2012? Obviously you want a bunch of wins, but have you thought about how many times you want to fight and where you want to be by the time 2013 starts?

Jeremy Stephens: No. All my focus is on this next fight. I have nothing else on my mind besides Donald Cerrone, getting that win and moving forward from there, but as of right now, this is the big picture. This is the light at the end of the tunnel. Tuesday is right around the corner. I’ve never felt so energized, never felt so good mentally and spiritually in my life. I’m ready to go take Donald Cerrone out and look forward to the future after that.

Luke Thomas: Who’s gonna be in your corner on Tuesday night?

Jeremy Stephens: Eric Del Fierro and then Adrian who’s also with Alliance and he’s my boxing coach, been helping me out and my coach Chaco. He’s from the other gym, but he’s a good mental aspect and a good person to have in my corner. He’s one of those guys that will probably be always in my corner.

Read More: Donald Cerrone (MMA), K.J. Noons (MMA), Jeremy Stephens (MMA), Anthony Pettis (MMA), Nate Diaz (MMA), Yves Edwards (MMA), UFC on FUEL TV 3

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