“I just signed the papers today (for the Guillard fight)”, Jeremy Stephen’s disclosed exclusively to BJPENN.COM.
“I think it’s a good fight. I think it’s an exciting fight for the fans. I think it’s going to be a good one, but I think that I’m just going to be too strong for Melvin.”
For those who missed it, Melvin Guillard emphatically called out Stephens after his UFC 114 victory over Waylon Lowe.
“I was actually at the event supporting two of my friends, Diego Sanchez and Joe Brammer when he called me out. I was clapping when he called me out. Melvin had a great performance, he looked really sharp and he’s looking to improve and he looks very good, very dangerous and uh… My thoughts were, it’s going to be a great fight and I look forward to it.”
Jeremy continued…
“You know, Melvin is actually a pretty cool guy, he talks to me and we conversate and we have a lot of respect for each other. But in this business we know we’re two exciting fighters and we’re going to fight and he just decided to call me out and it’s really no surprise but I’m looking forward to going out there and bangin em out. “
“I knew eventually we’d fight and with him calling me out I want this fight, it’s just something me and my manager discussed and we wanted to take this fight and improve and get better and go out there and have a great performance with a spectacular outcome. “
UFC 114 was just a 9 days ago, and now putting pen to paper immediately after the “call-out” from Guillard, is a move not necessarily unheard of, but still a quick turnaround for the UFC in booking Guillard so soon after his last outing.
Digging for one final detail from Stephens I wanted to know how the negotiations for this bout came about.
“The UFC originally came to me and asked me if I was ready to fight and I had a slight little injury and I had some healing to do and I wasn’t able to take a fight (when they first offered a different opponent) and we moved on.[But since then] I’ve been in the gym, I started getting back in there, I was hitting pads all week, doing jiu jitsu and I felt great and he decided to call me out and I actually couldn’t have been happier. Me and my manager were texting each other like ‘Yea we’ll take that fight.’ and we hit up Joe Silva and we asked him ‘What’s up with Melvin, is he ready to go are we ready to do this or what?’ and he said ‘Let’s do it’ and I couldn’t be more happier. It’s going to be in a great location, here in the Midwest so it’s going to be a big family event for me and its going to be a real exciting show and I can’t wait to go out there just prove the world wrong once again.”
more --- http://www.bjpenn.com/profiles/blogs/bjpenncom-exclusive-jeremy
Awesome, classy guy, really looking forward to this one. Both guys have been doing great lately.
Please tell me this is going to be at 119 in Indy?????
it is Archer
Good fight
HUGE fan of Stephens and Guillard. I will be rooting for Jeremy in this one. Thanks for posting this interview.
ttt
Should be a great fight, and they both looked fantastic in their last outings. I'd also like to see Guillard fight Stout or Ludwig or Fisher. Bona fide entertainment.