Jeremy Stephens hasn’t so much moved on from his controversial first encounter with Yair Rodriguez in Mexico City as he’s turned the event into a combustible fuel source that he intends to set alight on Friday night in Boston.
Paired with the talented Mexican contender in the main event of the UFC’s return to Mexico City Arena in September, the highly anticipated featherweight bout was halted just 15 seconds after it began when Stephens was accidentally poked in the eye and deemed unable to continue, kicking off a chain reaction of comments, incidents and altercations that have only made their co-main event rematch this week all the more incendiary.