Stephens knocks out Emmett at UFC on Fox 28

ORLANDO, Fla. — Perhaps the most famous moment for Jeremy Stephens in the UFC was when Conor McGregor colorfully asked who exactly he was during a 2016 news conference.

The featherweight contender has been making a name for himself since.

Stephens won his third straight fight with a second-round knockout of Josh Emmett in the main event of UFC on Fox 28 on Saturday night at Amway Center.

Stephens was dropped in the first round, but scrambled back to his feet and gathered his composure.

He dropped Emmett with a wild left hook and followed with elbows on the ground and a questionable knee that appeared to be illegal because Emmett was grounded.

Stephens said he thought he waited for Emmett’s hand to raise slightly off the mat and was told the move was “close” to violating the rules.

Regardless of legality, the onslaught proved too much and the referee stopped the fight at 1:35 of the second round.

“And now we know who the hardest-hitting 145-pounder is,” Stephens said. “Josh put me down on my butt, I had to get my wits back underneath me. You cannot break me. I am unbreakable. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career, but this is a testament to never give up.”

Stephens used the win on network TV to ask for his first title fight after 28 bouts in the organization, dropping to his knees and pleading to UFC executives.

“Please give me my title shot,” he said. “I’m always putting on a show. They can run, but they can’t hide.”

Jessica Andrade won a unanimous decision over Tecia Torres and hopes the performance was impressive enough to give her a second chance at the women’s strawweight title.

Andrade repeatedly slammed Torres to the mat in the final 10 minutes to solidify her status as the top contender behind champion Rose Namajunas and former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who will fight for the belt next month.

Andrade’s only loss in six fights since dropping to strawweight was to Jedrzejczyk by decision last year.

“I had to use my ground skills to get this win, but I was already expecting that,” Andrade said. “I can’t wait to fight for the title again and show how much I improved. I’m expecting to get a title shot. You can never be too certain, but I know we delivered a good show.”

Light heavyweight contender Ilir Latifi snapped Ovince Saint Preux’s three-fight winning streak by putting him out with a standing guillotine choke in the first round. Saint Preux’s tap was missed by the referee, who stopped the fight when Saint Preux went unconscious.

The victory was Latifi’s second straight and fifth in six fights.

Hometown favorite Mike Perry couldn’t find a consistent home for his powerful right hand and lost by unanimous decision to welterweight Max Griffin. Griffin made Perry pay for his swings and misses, only briefly finding trouble in the third round.

“He was a bull; I was a matador,” Griffin said. “He was just trying to charge me, but he’s so telegraphed with his bombs. I’m longer and precise. I knew I could move around and pick him apart. He looked slow. He really loads up. It seems on tape that he’s beating guys up, but in real life he’s really slow.”

Welterweight Alan Jouban highlighted the preliminary card with a second-round knockout of Ben Saunders. Marion Reneau rebounded from a disastrous first round to score a second-round submission of former women’s bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann.

Brian Kelleher won a unanimous decision over former bantamweight champion Renan Barao, and Sam Alvey dropped light heavyweight Marcin Prachnio twice with right hands late in the first round to force a stoppage.

Angela Hill, Rani Yahya, Alex Perez and Manny Bermudez picked up wins.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.