Jeremy Stephens vs. Doo Ho Choi slated for UFC St. Louis

MMAfighting.com

Jeremy Stephens takes on Doo Ho Choi on Jan. 14 at UFC St.Louis.

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

A barnburner of a featherweight fight is heading to UFC St. Louis.

Fan-friendly 145-pound contenders Jeremy Stephens and Doo Ho Choi have been slated to clash on Jan. 14 at UFC St. Louis. The UFC announced the booking late Thursday night.

Stephens (26-14) looks to continue his upwards momentum after scoring a ‘Fight of the Night’ win over Gilbert Melendez at UFC 215.

In total, Stephens has won six of his 11 contests since moving down from lightweight to the featherweight division in 2013, highlighted by victories over Darren Elkins, Dennis Bermudez, and former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao. “Lil Heathen” is currently the No. 8 ranked fighter on the UFC’s official, media-generated featherweight rankings.

Choi (14-2), meanwhile, returns to action for the first time since his legendary contest againstCub Swanson last December, which took third-place honors in MMA Fighting’s 2016 Fight of the Year countdown. Choi suffered a unanimous decision loss in his ridiculous, back-and-forth battle against Swanson, marking the first setback of Choi’s otherwise flawless UFC career. Prior to that, the 26-year-old “Korean Superboy” compiled a trio of first-round knockouts to start his Octagon run.

Choi, who will likely end 2017 without competing, was previously scheduled to face Andre Fili atUFC 214 before pulling out due to injury. Despite his year-long layoff, Choi remains the No. 12 ranked UFC featherweight.

UFC St. Louis takes place Jan. 14 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

An updated UFC St. Louis fight card can be seen below.