FAIRFAX, Va. – Lightweight veteran Jeremy Stephens believes he can get Donald Cerrone to wilt under pressure.
"I couldn't care less about his kicks," said Stephens, scheduled to face Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC on FUEL TV 3 on Tuesday at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. "I couldn't care less about his punching power. And I'm going to break him."
Both coming off losses to top-10 opponents, Cerrone and Stephens could use a win to start new runs at the elite ranks at 155 pounds. Pitting them against each other gives the UFC a good chance of an action-packed affair; between them, Cerrone and Stephens have combined for 13 fight-night awards under the banner of UFC parent Zuffa.
Yet Stephens doesn't go into the cage with the notion of winning a bonus for action.
"Bringing that win bonus back to my family is the only thing I'm concerned about," he said. "I think my style is just exciting enough as it is. I've never been one of those guys who felt like I had to go out there and perform real crazy and had to do anything."
USA TODAY Sports spoke to Stephens on Saturday about his upcoming bout. Excerpts from the conversation:
USA TODAY: Where would you say Donald Cerrone belongs in the division?
Stephens: Definitely top 10. He'll be up there. I feel like he's still got a long career ahead of him. He's a game opponent. He fought five times last year, so he's a hungry guy.
USA TODAY: You've been in UFC since 2007. It seems like every time you've had some momentum going, something happened; this time, you had a close loss to Anthony Pettis. Why do you think it's been so difficult to get over that hump?
To be honest, I have no idea. That's something I've always thought about. Just staying focused is the main thing.
I had to switch things up after that camp. I had to go to Alliance MMA. I had to move my family out of the home to get closer to that gym and get around those people that have got the same goals.
Like Dominick Cruz is the champion. He's just determined to keep remaining as the champion. He's focused. He's got the drive.
Those are the people that I need to be around. I knew it.
I had to make a change and change is good. Every time I make a change, positive things happens, so that's what I'm doing.
USA TODAY: How did you settle on Alliance as your new camp?
I'd went there before, and plenty of times before that, I went to go for my sparring and stuff like that. But it's kind of far away, so I was kind of distanced from it.
It reminds me of my gym back home, how I originally started. It's just a hard-nosed gym. Tough sparring. Hard sparring there. A lot of hard work.
The best thing about it is the coaching. The coaching's really good there. Everybody's really disciplined. Everybody's on the same level, got the same goals and ambitions and drive. You've got to surround yourself if you're going to swim with guys like that.
USA TODAY: Alliance has Lloyd Irvin, who's based here. Usually when they have fights here, he'll bring a lot of guys down. Do you feel like you're almost going to have a little bit of a home edge because his camp is here?
Yeah, for sure. A lot of Lloyd Irvin's guys actually came out to Las Vegas. I pretty much did all my training out there, helping out Team Cruz for the show.
Master Lloyd brought in Jimmy (Harbison) and "J.T." (Jonathan Torres), guys that are (in their early 20s) that are just world champions. Just killers. They submit you 15 times in a round, and you feel like you're a white belt again.
Master Lloyd, he's just a genius. He's a good guy to have around. He just makes you feel real comfortable.
USA TODAY: You're known as a heavy hitter. Donald has a good ground game. What do you think the chances are that he tries to take this to the ground?
I think the chances are pretty good. A lot of the strikers, especially a guy like Anthony Pettis, who I think is a little more unpredictable, about the same hand speed, same type of power in their kicks, kind of same demeanor, the length and everything – I feel like the chances are really good, once he gets hit.
I don't hit like a normal '55er. I probably knock guys out at 170 and above. Once he starts feeling that power, I've got a feeling that he's going to try to resort to the ground game.
He does actually (have) good wrestling. He showed that when he took Jamie Varner down. He took Paul Kelly down; he seemed to be lighting him up.
I feel like he's going to make the attempt. I'm going to shut that down and keep it standing and knock him out.
USA TODAY: Nate Diaz was able to drag Donald into his kind of game. Do you think you can convince Donald into going toe-to-toe with you?
We'll see. He's coming off a loss. I'm coming off a loss. Both guys are hungry. We know we have to put on a show. This is a hyped up fight. I think he may be a little cocky and try to stand with me for a little bit.
But again, I think he'll go for a takedown attempt. I'm well prepared for that. I'm going to defend the takedown, keep it standing and give the fans what they want in a knockout.
USA TODAY: You've said that you believe in the third round of the Diaz fight, Donald broke in the third round. What gave you that impression?
He had some success in the second round. Third round, Nate Diaz just kind of fingers him, and you just saw that look in Cowboy's eyes. Being around fighting and being a shark and smelling that blood, I kind of know what that look is like. If I see that look, I feel like your guy's in trouble. Sure enough, Nate capitalized.
Just that look in Cowboy's eyes, I saw he broke. He just kind of accepted the double fingers to his face.
I felt like he could have came out and just swung for the fences and made it look sloppy, not the prettiest fight. I felt like he could have done something.
Or when he kick-trip knocked him down, he could have capitalized, landed some elbows, but he just didn't have it. So to me, he just kind of broke and allowed himself to take an ass-whipping for the rest of the fight.
USA TODAY: What's the vulnerability in Donald that allows other people to break him? How did Nate get to him?
Just pressure. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Come forward and just the constant tapping of just beating him up.
No respect for his kicks, no respect for his punches. He (Diaz) got kicked in the head and just kept coming forward. Got tripped, knocked down, and just kept coming forward.
When a guy's coming at you like Terminator, it could break your confidence a little bit. It breaks your momentum.
Cowboy's a guy who likes to pressure guys, likes to bully them. When he has that momentum, he's very dangerous.
When I come forward, we're definitely going to collide. It's going to be who's coming forward and who has the lack of respect for each other's power.
I can tell you right now, I don't really care for his kicks. I couldn't care less about his kicks. I couldn't care less about his punching power. And I'm going to break him.
USA TODAY: He seemed pretty effective with his kicks against Nate. Why aren't those kicks a concern?
I've been kicked in the legs so many times. I've been sparring with a 170-pound guy named A.J. Matthews who has way better muay Thai than him. I've sparred guys who have got better muay Thai.
I'm not saying that his muay Thai is not good. I think his muay Thai is probably better than mine, if that says anything.
But I feel like I'll just have no respect for his kick. I'm just going to come forward, land my shots and be the more devastating puncher.
I think Sam Stout kicks pretty hard, threw a lot of kicks at me, didn't seem to faze me. I just kept coming forward. At the end of the fight, you look at his face, you look at mine, it shows that I can land the more devastating shots.
USA TODAY: That was a split decision against Sam Stout. You've had mixed results with close fights. How concerned are you that if this ends up being a close one, it might not go your way?
You can't think about that. I can't focus on what I can't control. What I focus on is what I can control. And what I can control is what I'm about to unleash come Tuesday night.
I'm just going to let it all hang out, hands swinging. That's what I'm going to do. Whatever happens after that happens. But I know I'm going to leave it all out on the table this time and just go for broke.
USA TODAY: Donald collects a lot of bonuses in his fights. Do you think this one has potential to be a bonus fight?
Yeah, for sure. But the only bonus I really care about's the win bonus. Bringing that win bonus back to my family is the only thing I'm concerned about.
USA TODAY: So the entertainment aspect of MMA isn't as important to you, perhaps?
To me, I don't have to entertain the people or try to go put on a show for the entertainment. I think my style is just exciting enough as it is. I've never been one of those guys who felt like I had to go out there and perform real crazy and had to do anything.
I just go out there. I fight hard, and I fight to take guys out. That's my style. It's exciting in itself. Therefore, there's never really any pressure on me. I just go out there, and I do my thing and do it well.
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