Jeremy Stephens is set for a high-stakes return at UFC 328 and is taking aim at the UFC’s bonus structure just days before walking back into the Octagon.
Stephens is scheduled to face King Green on the UFC 328 main card at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Sat., May 9, 2026, where the promotion is now handing out $100,000 post-fight bonuses under its new Paramount+ era.
The longtime UFC veteran, known as "Lil Heathen," questioned how those figures stack up with what he says he was earning earlier in his career. Jeremy Stephens said, "They are like, here you go, $50 gs here, $50 gs here, and now it is $100 gs, but they were already doing that in 2007 at UFC 71 when I started my UFC career. I was already making $75,000 bonuses. So what the f—k happened to the money? Where is the budget guy on this, because the UFC is making all this money? Why aren’t we getting $500,000 bonuses?"
Jeremy Stephens added, "Bro, you are basically giving out what you gave out thirty years ago," and, "It’s kind of f—ked up. For me, that doesn’t make sense; it is just really corporate. Back in the day, it was the ‘Dana duffle bag,’ bring back the good old days."
Stephens, who is tied with Clay Guida for the most losses in UFC history at 19, would hold the record outright with a defeat against Green. Oddsmakers currently list him as a +295 underdog. UFC 71 officially awarded $40,000 bonuses, and the promotion now has $1.1 billion to use every year for seven years.
