Jeremy Stephens has been fighting for over six years professional, but has yet to grasp that brass ring.

Now, following a loss to Anthony Pettis that snapped his two-fight win streak, Stephens is hoping to rebound Tuesday against Donald Cerrone. The bout will take place from Fairfax, Virginia at UFC on FUEL TV 3.

Stephens has fought some of the best the UFC has to offer, including Marcus Davis, Sam Stout and Cole Miller – all of whom he has defeated. However, losses to fighters such as Pettis, Melvin Guillard and Joe Lauzon have kept him from reaching that top rung.

“I had to switch things up after that camp. I had to go to Alliance MMA. I had to move my family out of the home to get closer to that gym and get around those people that have got the same goals,” said Stephens, in a recent interview with USA Today. “Like Dominick Cruz is the champion. He’s just determined to keep remaining as the champion. He’s focused. He’s got the drive. Those are the people that I need to be around. I knew it. I had to make a change and change is good.”

Stephens had trained at Alliance before, but with it being is full-time gym, he’s feeling much better with a key bout against “Cowboy” on the horizon.

“I went to go for my sparring and stuff like that,” said Stephens, of past trips to Alliance MMA. “The best thing about it is the coaching. The coaching’s really good there. Everybody’s really disciplined.”

Stephens is 20-7 in his career and has been fighting inside the Octagon since 2007. Cerrone is coming off a loss to Nate Diaz that dropped his record to 17-4.