UFC 205’s Jeremy Stephens to internet trolls: You can find me at my gym all day

Before UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor made him the butt of a joke, Jeremy Stephens had his eye set on another troll. Or really, any troll.

Stephens in July issued an open challenge to his online detractors, asking promoters to put together off-the-books fights at his gym.

The invitation remains open.

“Third and K – Alliance MMA,” Stephens told MMAjunkie video partners Champions.co. “I’m here all day. Come play.”

Surprisingly, no one has shown up to Stephens’ (25-12 MMA, 12-11 UFC) longtime gym. So he’s going about his usual routine, training and preparing himself for a high-profile rendezvous with Frankie Edgar (20-5-1 MMA, 14-5-1 UFC) on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 205, which takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In May, he upset ex-bantamweight champ Renan Barao. A win over another former champ could earn him a shot at McGregor – if the Irish champ ever returns to the featherweight division.

Stephens, No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings doesn’t get rattled by much in the cage, but his skin is a little thinner when it comes to the things strangers say about him. And when anyone brings his family into the picture, as he said one particular troll did, he loses his cool.

“Somebody said something about my daughters,” Stephens said. “About my kids. That just goes to show the type of character people have.”

He would love to dole out a lesson in manners, and preferably earn some extra income while he’s at it. In all likelihood, though, he’ll have to take his frustrations out elsewhere. Edgar is a good start.

Check out the full video above.

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