Gable Steveson speaks on start of MMA career, training with Jon Jones
Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson spoke to The Tennessean about his relationship with Jon Jones and more ahead of DBX 4 in Nashville.
- Gable Steveson continues his fight career in Nashville on Oct. 30, headlining DBX 4 at The Pinnacle.
- Steveson, a former Olympic gold medalist, is eyeing star status in MMA while training alongside Jon Jones.
Gable Steveson conquered wrestling to the tune of an Olympic gold medal and two NCCAA national titles.
Now, he’s looking to follow suit in mixed martial arts. But Steveson doesn’t just want to win a UFC heavyweight title, he wants to be the sport’s predominant star.
“What I’ve tried to do with wrestling is be the sport, and MMA, I want to be MMA …” Steveson told The Tennessean. “Sometimes those people are larger than life and I always want to be a figure that (people say), ‘Hey, this guy can be larger than life, but also if you see him in person, man he’s a real good dude, he’s cool, he’s humble, he’s nice. But when it’s time for showtime, you know we need to watch him.'”
Training him to reach those heights is arguably the greatest fighter to ever enter the octagon, Jon Jones.
Jones will be ringside when Steveson fights Billy Swanson as he continues his path toward MMA-stardom on Oct. 30 in Nashville at The Pinnacle, headlining DBX 4, the latest card from Dirty Boxing Championship – a promotion co-owned by Jones.
“I think I’m at a prime age for heavyweight … being able to have the athleticism and that pop and being able to go out there and kind of use the name of Gable and have people fear the wrestling,” Steveson said. “And now at Dirty Boxing I can show the hands and show everybody that I can be a complete package. At this age, it’s going to be crazy and should be scary to a lot of other guys.”
Prior to joining forces, Jones had long been a fan of Steveson’s wrestling ability, tracking his collegiate career with Minnesota. Steveson’s wrestling left such an impression that Jones tapped the gold medalist to join his training camp in preparation to face Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in 2024.
“I feel like I gave him a good spark … I committed every day to, we need to do this. We need to beat this guy and this is how we’re going to beat him. And Jon listened,” Steveson said. “And whenever he told me things, I listened too and I think it was two guys that had no ego that came together …”
Jones has since joined Steveson’s team as a coach, helping to prepare the 25-year-old as he looks to add a championship belt to his trophy case. Steveson’s MMA career began in dominant fashion, taking just over 90 seconds to finish Braden Peterson on LFA 217 in September.
The next step is Dirty Boxing, where Steveson aims to add a new crop of fans in pursuit of star-status.
“That’s always been my thing, how can I make the person that has never seen Gable Steveson before, want to watch him again,” Steveson said. “And after that, can you watch him again? Can you watch him dominate a second time? And so that’s always been my thing is just taking the people that have never seen who you are and showing them a great thing the first time.”
Harrison Campbell covers combat sports for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @hccamp.
