Fighting Jeremy Stephens is "A Dream Come True" For Mason Jones in his UFC Return

Welsh MMA fighter Mason Jones has declared that his UFC return fight against Jeremy Stephens next month is "a dream come true".

The pair will fight on the UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Figueiredo card on May 3rd from Des Moines, Iowa.

The matchup seemed unlikely as both men had been fighting elsewhere after fighting out their UFC contracts, and Jones shared his surprise at his opponent as he told Fight Night Network: "I had a call from my management, they said it's a massive fight, you'll never guess [the opponent]. He said Jeremy Stephens, and I said Jeremy's not signed to the UFC!"

Jones fought the last fight of his previous UFC contract in 2022 and both parties failed to renegotiate.

Since then, "The Dragon" returned to Cage Warriors and won four fights in a row, with three of them coming by knockout, and he believes that now is the time to have another shot in the UFC as he said: "[The UFC] has been a long time coming back. After I left the UFC we went back and we worked on a load of things. The UFC offer has been there since early last year, it's taken a while, I'm ecstatic to get signed."

The 29-year-old acknowledged that Stephens will have an even greater incentive to win the upcoming bout, as it takes place in his home city Des Moines.

According to Jones, Stephens is the hardest hitting featherweight that the UFC has ever seen, but believes that he will become the American's 22nd professional MMA defeat.

Despite Stephens clear experience advantage in the UFC, Jones does not expect the discrepancy to show in the fight as he said: "He's a 50/50 fighter, if you look at his record he's got more losses than I've had fights. 40% of his fights he's lost, and I am interested in pushing that statistic up."

When the Welshman re-signed with the UFC, he originally accepted a bout offer against an unnamed opponent on just five days' notice, but he said that the other athlete rejected the fight as it was "too hard on short notice."