JEREMY STEPHENS insists he won't become the UFC's latest aluminium fighter who fails to reach the tops in the rival promotion PFL.
Professional Fighters League offers a knockout format, quarters, semis, and final format for eight fighters from eight different divisions.
Jeremy Stephens insists he won't be the latest ex-UFC superstar to fail in PFL
The dramatic winner-takes-all finale ends with the two finalist in each weight class fighting it out for a $1million prize check.
Many stars of the UFC have jumped ship to become champions with millions more in the bank.
Most recently, Anthony Pettis was defeated in the first round by former lightweight UFC champion after signing a PFL deal.
Clay Collard, 29, defeated Pettis, 35 and the odds last season, and will try to do the double when he receives Stephens at PFL.
Stephens stated that MMA allows him to draw on their experiences.
"I can draw on Anthony's experiences inside the PFL. He was being paid a lot.
"I feel like they paid too much money to him and he thought he would win by intimidation.
"That's what I have learned from my experience.
"I am fully prepared and ready to fight with my game opponent."
Collard put on an exciting fight in last year's kickoff bout with Pettis, and the 9-6-3 boxer hopes for more with Stephens.
"It was Stephens who signed me. That's when I knew that this was my opponent. They're going straight out to give me that guy.
"So, I called it. We match up well stylistically and it's an exciting fight. It's a great way to begin the season.
"Last year they did the exact same thing. They knew that Pettis and I were going to be bangers - let's get down to business with a banger.
"So, I feel like we're opening up the season by opening it with another banger. It's a great feeling.
