Olympic Medalist Gable Steveson Confirms UFC Plans

Gable Steveson, UFC heavyweight Jon Jones’ Olympic gold medalist protege, is still looking forward to transitioning to UFC grounds.

Olympic Medalist Gable Steveson Confirms UFC Plans

Gable Steveson still lookking forward to a systematic UFC transition (Source: X)

There is none other as bloated as Gable Steveson when considering American Wrestling staples. Notably, Steveson has also trained with UFC heavyweight Jon Jones and has often teased about an MMA transition. Now, he is doubling and tripling down on those aspirations.

Gable Steveson was at Mike Perry’s Dirty Boxing this weekend (DBX2: Rozenstruik vs. Cardoso) in Miami, Florida; Jon Jones is an equity holder of the fledgling promotion now and has been enjoying the 5 oz. open-palm, ground-and-pound gusto!

Steveson was on hand for the second event streaming at 7 p.m. ET on the promotion’s YouTube channel. UFC’s recently released heavyweight crop, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, headlined the event and made a sensational debut. Later, in a backstage media interview, Steveson said that he wanted to eventually invest in an MMA grind, particularly with the UFC.

I’m very interested in it [in UFC move]. But, …you know, you want to take your time…You want to have the right training, you want to have the right path to get where you need to go. And so that’s what we’re focused on right now. Focus on making sure that all the…All the buttons are put in the right place. And when it’s time to go, we’re going to take a full force and run with it.

Gable Steveson to MMA reporter Jaiden Cable (@Jaidencablee;🎥: @home_of_fight)

Steveson is a two-time NCAA Division I national/four-time Big Ten champ and 2020 Olympian; safe to say, he has the ground game part of it at the back of his hand. He is reeling from a March upset to Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson at the NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships at Wells Fargo Center. Now, he wants to take his time to hone an all-around combat skill and gradually shift over to MMA.

At 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) and the 265-pound bracket, the Indiana freestyle wrestler packs a lot of musculature that needs to be put to work. Other than training with “Bones”, he recently also dapped it up with UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili.

During UFC 316 ‘Embedded’ No. 1 Vlog, he also lauded the bantamweight champ’s in-built cardio tank and getting a grip of where he needs to be if and when he makes a switch-up to MMA. While the American wrestler has no particular name in mind that he wants to challenge in UFC, he did take umbrage with one particular ongoing issue later.

Olympic gold medalist teammate of Jon Jones responds to claims of “ducking” by Tom Aspinall

If one happens to be Team ‘Jon Jones’ or someone in his circle, chances are they are fighting tooth and nail, presenting his longevity and MMA legacy against Tom Aspinall. It’s almost been two years since the UK native won interim gold at 265-pound limits, and an ungodly amount of inaction without PPV title unification.

Gable Steveson defends Jon Jones from ducking claims
Gable Steveson defends Jon Jones from ducking claims (Source: X)

Even some 6-7 months prior in this frame, the rumor was that Jones’ PPV monetary compensation and an ask for a 6-month camp were being negotiated. A lot of tides have passed since; Jon Jones has now blatantly disregarded Aspinall’s or fans’ calls for unification.

Even recently, the UFC heavyweight champ told he’d face the Brit at somewhere like the Dirty Boxing Championship (DBX) rather than blemish his UFC legacy with a lesser name. Naturally, there is a lot of pent-up frustration about it; seemingly, even from UFC brass.

Jon Jones has had only two ballot fights in 5 years as an aspiring or practising roster heavyweight; that too when he took three years off to make that shift! After a training seminar Q&A at Bangtao Muay Thai MMA and TV show in Thailand, Jon Jones returned for the latest rendition of his new Dirty Boxing Championship.

Friend Gable Steveson flanked him in Miami, along with others. In a recent media interview, the Olympian hit back at claims of ducking:

I’m not sure, that might be a question you have to ask Jon… I would rather have Jon do whatever Jon wants to do, if it’s Tom then it’s Tom. If it’s Francis then it’s Francis; Or if it’s me then it’s me…He’s definitely not ducking. Whatever Jon wants to do, he’s going to do it. And he’s going to do it to the best of his ability.

Gable Steveson in a Bloody Elbow Exclusive

With his own MMA debut imminent, Gable Steveson said that Bones was just up to usual things, but has been training with the gold medalist. Whether or not he will entertain an Aspinall PPV unifier would be some other day’s bridge to burn. Jones himself has been very unresponsive and has continued to troll the issue at large.

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