Jeremy Stephens will draw a stern test in his return to 155 pounds.
Stephens (28-18 MMA, 15-17 UFC) will face Mateusz Gamrot (18-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at a UFC Fight Night event July 17. There is not an announced location, venue or broadcast plan.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the booking Thursday, but asked to remain anonymous because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Stephens will return to lightweight for the first time since 2013. The 34-year-old currently is in the roughest stretch of his career having gone 0-4 with one no contest in his past five outings.
He was scheduled to make his 155-pound debut against Drakkar Klose at UFC on ESPN 22, but the fight was scrapped due to an injury Klose suffered when he was shoved by Stephens at the weigh-ins. Klose said the shove caused his hand to go numb and his neck to tighten up, which was later diagnosed by doctors as a “brain concussion” and “sprain of cervical neck.”
After getting edged out by Guram Kutateladze in his UFC debut in October, former KSW dual-champion Gamrot notched his first octagon win when stopped Scott Holtzman in the second round at UFC on ABC 2 in April.
With the addition, the UFC’s July 17 lineup now includes:
- Marion Reneau vs. Miesha Tate
- Amir Albazi vs. Ode Osbourne
- Sergey Morozov vs. Khalid Taha
- Guram Kutateladze vs. Don Madge
- Cameron Else vs. Aaron Phillips
- Herbert Burns vs. Billy Quarantillo
- Francisco Figueredo vs. Malcolm Gordon
- Anderson dos Santos vs. Miles Johns
- Alan Baudot vs. Rodrigo Nascimento
- Phil Hawes vs. Deron Winn
- Islam Makhachev vs. Thiago Moises
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jeremy Stephens