Lightweight veterans King Green and Jeremy Stephens kicked off Saturday’s UFC 328 main card at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
The lone fighter to have missed weight for the event, Stephens came in four pounds heavy. “Lil Heathen” was seeking his first win since returning to the UFC last year in a loss against Mason Jones; Green had won two straight.
Green started the round off with a couple of stiff teeps, and his usual very low guard. Stephens was applying pressure, picking his shots. But everything was landing with strong intent. You could definitely see that Green was feeling confident in his movement and striking, as Stephens bit down on Green’s feints early in the round.
Stephens was really trying to close the distance, able to get inside the clinch and force Green to the cage. Stephens found a nice inside elbow but couldn’t keep him there long. Green broke away and got back to his movement, bringing the fight back to the open area of the octagon.
The two would find themselves in a nice little exchange, starting to show an exciting round! During the exchange, Green caught Stephens, leaving him to seem a little wobbly. Shortly after, Green landed an accidental kick to the groin causing Stephens to take four minutes of his five minute recovery time.
As they got back to work, Stephen closed the distance immediately trying to put Green back on the fence. A couple of back and forth exchanges followed, Green just being a step ahead.
Stephens wound up on a big hook, just a little too telegraphed helping Green time a nice double leg; he landed in the guard of Stephens and got straight to work.
Green was landing some heavy ground and pound! Stephens was doing his best to defend, even attempting to hit a kimura on King Green – close but not close enough. Green defended and quickly transitioned to side control. After some scrambling from Stephens, Green was able to find the back and sink in a deep rear-naked choke. Quickly after, he forced the tap while not even having both hooks in.
Putting Green on his third straight win, he’s got to have the division’s notice at this point. Jeremy Stephens, meanwhile, stripped off his gloves after the fight and exited the octagon, potentially signaling that he was hanging them up.
Looks like Jeremy Stephens is going to call it a day
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) May 10, 2026
Official result: King Green def. Jeremy Stephens by rear-naked choke, Round 1, 4:20
