UFC 249: Jeremy Stephens vs. Calvin Kattar added to Barclays Center card
Jeremy Stephens (right) fights against Frankie Edgar in their featherweight bout during the UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2016. Credit: Getty Images/Michael Reaves
The next time Jeremy Stephens steps into the octagon to fight, more than two years will have passed since his last victory.
The next time Stephens will step into the octagon to fight will be in little more than two months, when he faces Calvin Kattar at UFC 249 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 18. The featherweight booking had been reported late last month, but the UFC made the fight official on Monday.
Stephens (28-17, 1 no contest) is winless in his last four bouts, the longest such streak in both time and fights in a career that began in 2005. He lost to Yair Rodriguez (plus a no-contest bout against him), Zabit Magomedsharipov and Jose Aldo, all among the top-tier featherweights. Nineteen of Stephens' 28 career wins have come by knockout.
Kattar (20-4) had his run of first-round knockouts ended at two last November when he lost a unanimous decision to Magomedsharipov. He has UFC wins over Ricardo Lamas, Chris Fishgold, Shane Burgos and Andre Fili.
UFC 249 is scheduled to be headlined by lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defending his title against Tony Ferguson.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.