King Green did not let Jeremy Stephens’ missed weight become a long debate at UFC 328. He beat him up, took his back, and ended the fight in the first round.
Green submitted Stephens with a rear-naked choke at 4:20 of Round 1 in their 160-pound catchweight main card bout at Prudential Center in Newark. The fight was originally booked at lightweight, but Stephens came in at 160 pounds, four pounds over the non-title lightweight limit, and forfeited 30 percent of his purse.
That made the stakes simple. Stephens needed a big return win. Green needed to punish the miss and keep his own momentum rolling. He did exactly that on the same card where Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland headlined UFC 328.
Green started loose, talking with his hands low while Stephens pressured forward. Stephens landed a heavy leg kick and tried to work from the clinch, but Green separated and started finding the target. A sharp combination hurt Stephens, though the exchange also included a low blow that forced a pause and drew a hard warning from referee Gary Copeland.
Once the fight resumed, Green took over fast. He landed clean punches, hit a double-leg takedown, and poured on ground-and-pound. Stephens tried to create a scramble with a kimura attempt, but Green cleared it, moved into dominant positions, kept dropping elbows, and eventually took the back.
Watch Green get the finish below:
https://x.com/UFConParamount/status/2053286799313658224
Green Wants His Bonus After Main Card Finish
Green entered the fight looking for his third straight win after beating Daniel Zellhuber and Lance Gibson Jr. The Stephens victory pushed that streak forward and gave him a finish in his 30th UFC appearance.
Afterward, Green aimed his message at the UFC brass and made it clear he wanted extra money for the performance.
“I didn’t get my bonus last time.”
Green’s bonus callout is below:
https://x.com/UFConParamount/status/2053288007218708903
He also called out Hunter Campbell and Dana White while saying he is one of the most exciting men to ever step into the Octagon.
For Stephens, the loss is another rough turn in a UFC comeback that already had weight drama attached to it. He returned to the promotion earlier this year and lost a unanimous decision to Mason Jones, then competed in bare-knuckle boxing against Mike Perry. Against Green, he was looking for his first UFC win since knocking out Josh Emmett in February 2018.
Instead, he got dragged into the kind of fight Green loves. Green talked, pressured, cracked him, wrestled when the opening appeared, and finished once Stephens was hurt.
Green, a former King of the Cage lightweight and junior welterweight champion, has been around the game forever, but this version still has teeth. Stephens, also a long-time UFC and combat sports veteran, came in with power and experience, but the missed weight and first-round finish made this a clean win for Green and a rough night for “Lil Heathen.”
For more UFC 328 results, Jim Miller also extended his UFC wins record with a first-round guillotine over Jared Gordon, while Yaroslav Amosov submitted Joel Alvarez and called for a top-10 welterweight next.
