BKFC star Jeremy Stephens‘s whole claim to fame for the longest time was that Conor McGregor once dissed him. Stephens, of course, is the victim of the famous “who the fook is that guy” after he dared to call out the Irishman at their UFC 205 press conference in 2016, only to be put down hilariously by the then 145lbs kingpin in his signature style.

But fate recently smiled on Stephens, as he was involved in a much-talked-about face-off with ‘Mystic Mac’ after beating Eddie Alvarez at Knucklemania 5 last month. In fact, McGregor, who remains one of the biggest stars in the combat sports world, told Stephens to “set a date” right after the bout’s conclusion. Quite a coup for ‘Lil’ Heathen’. But surprisingly, the BKFC star wants a potential McGregor fight to go down under one condition. Stephens wants to slug it out with the Irishman in the bare-knuckle ring!

“It’s [a potential McGregor fight] an opportunity that’s out there, you know. I don’t have a contract, like anybody, these Jake Pauls, these boxers, like I can actually do both. I can actually eat on both sides of the table. I could go to UFC because I’m an open man. Like I’m my own boss now. I kind of switched… Like I could do that but I don’t want to fight Conor in MMA to be completely f—ing honest,” he told Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in a recent interview.

But why is Stephens insisting that the fight happen at the BKFC? Well, because he wants to hurt McGregor, and that would be easier to do under the brutal bare-knuckle rules.

“I want him in bare knuckle big dog ‘cuz you really got to feel this f—ing pain that I’m bringing. And I know the fact that just like you’re around my age and the fact that you’re out there you’re doing that s–t. Like you’re out there just promoting this and that and I’m still there f—ing grinding, bro. Like we have a tremendous story in the background,” he added.

Stephens is right, there is an existing and quite interesting storyline for a possible clash between him and McGregor. After all, the UFC’s first outing in New York served as the infamous incident between the duo. This, of course, would certainly help make a potential fight between them a commercial success. However, there are a couple of reasons this fight will probably not happen anytime soon. But why? Let’s explore!

What stands in the way of a Conor McGregor vs. Jeremy Stephens BKFC fight?

Conor McGregor hasn’t fought in the past four years since horrifically breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. While the Irishman has been promising to come back every chance he gets, most are skeptical and feel he is just lying at this point and doesn’t plan on coming back. Including ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who feels this is the main reason Stephens will never get to fight ‘Mystic Mac’ either in the BKFC ring or the Octagon.

“I can tell you right now he’ll never fight you. Conor McGregor is never stepping foot in the cage or ring or bare-knuckle again. Like I can see him fighting like Jake Paul, Logan Paul for like for 200 [million]… It ain’t worth it for him.. what can he make off of a fight with you?” Jackson asked rhetorically. Of course, there is another reason that Stephens will not get to fight McGregor in bare-knuckle, even if the Irishman wanted to.

‘Mystic Mac’, after all, is still signed to the UFC and has two fights left on his contract. This means he cannot fight outside the Dana White-led promotion. Not to mention McGregor can probably make more money by fighting Jake or Logan Paul or another retired boxer rather than Stephens, as Jackson pointed out. What do you think about Jeremy Stephens’ comments about a possible Conor McGregor fight?