Regardless of the combat sport, Gable Steveson is quickly proving to be a bad, bad man.
The Olympic gold medalist wrestler made his triumphant professional MMA debut this past September with a brutal stoppage of Braden Petersen in LFA. He followed it up last Thursday with another flawless showcase, knocking out Billy Swanson with a highlight-reel barrage of punches in just 15 seconds at Dirty Boxing 4, further cementing his status as one of the top heavyweight prospects across all of combat.
Advertisement
“I was prepared,” Steveson said Wednesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I wouldn’t put myself in this position if I didn’t believe that I was prepared to do this.
“I didn’t throw any strikes my first LFA match, so I wanted to go out there and kind of be like, ‘Hey, let’s handicap Gable. Let’s go out there and kind of show the world that he can be comfortable in the ring, not pull punches, have good head movement.’ And I think I did a fair enough job, to go out there and get the job done. Most definitely, there’s a lot of things to keep working on, and I’ll keep progressing.”
The Dirty Boxing appearance wasn’t an MMA fight, but instead more like a boxing match with elbows allowed, considering the unique ruleset. Steveson said he enjoyed the quick experience and is open to a return, though nothing concrete is in place right now. He noted that brief discussions occurred regarding a Dirty Boxing show in Minneapolis, which Steveson likes the idea of as a native Minnesotan.
Advertisement
More importantly, though, Steveson wants to become a superstar in MMA — and UFC matchmakers like Mick Maynard are already taking note of the ultra-talented 25-year-old. Maynard attended Thursday’s event, sat ringside for Steveson’s win and even received a post-fight callout from the Olympian.
“It’s cool to go out there — I have one fight — and have a guy so high up in UFC come and watch me,” Steveson said. “It’s a blessing.
“So I talked to Mick [after the fight]. Great convo. Healthy. And we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Steveson is looking to gather up as much fight experience as he possibly can in a short span. He said he’s already targeting another MMA fight in 2025 and went so far as to tease a return timeline of a few weeks from now, noting the possibility for a potential second appearance in the LFA cage.
While some may feel like he’s rushing the process of his development, Steveson maintains he’s doing the opposite. He and his team — which includes UFC legend Jon Jones — will know once he’s ready to take the next step into a big-league opportunity, he said, and so he’s not putting a specific number of fights as the benchmark for when that moment comes.
Advertisement
“I feel like I’m still taking my time,” Steveson said. “There’s still a lot of things for me to gain being in a lot more fights. I would love to take my time. I would love to see the landscape and really kind of go out there and feel myself out, and see where I can take this fighting game at.
“PFL is a great thing. UFC is a great thing. Maybe both contracts will hit the table. I’m not sure. But I know where I want to go, and where superstardom comes. I think I can be something big. It could be both [promotions]. A superstar comes wherever Gable is. That’s how I like to treat it.”
As it stands, Steveson already has an all-star supporting cast around him in terms of MMA talent, having worked with Jones since 2023. Jones hasn’t necessarily been a head coach for Steveson, but a mentor and friend who continues to support him throughout the journey — so much so that Steveson will listen to the sound advice of “Bones” to help make his eventual decision, should he continue his winning ways.
“Whenever I feel confident enough,” Steveson said of the right time to join a major MMA promotion. “I feel confident right now. But whenever I feel like we are at that time, that Jon looks me in the face and says, ‘Hey, now is the time to take that next step’ — when he says it, we’ll be ready and take it from there. But man, I’m fully confident right now that I can go into a big promotion and make waves. But I’m not at that point, and I don’t like to speak too far ahead. I do see myself being something special.
Advertisement
“It’s [Jones’] call, but ultimately it’s my call too. We have a good transparency on what he thinks is best, but he also listens to a lot of things I say. He’s also really big on, ‘If you want to go ahead and do it, let’s do it.’ So I think that’s where we’re at with our relationship, and he’ll make the best call for me. Competitive-wise, I think he’ll know — and I’ll know — when I’m ready.”
Heavyweight prospects with the potential of Steveson and his blue-chip skill set are few and far between in modern MMA. Even without his record-breaking gold medal from the 2020 Games, simply being an Olympic-level wrestler would be enough to garner hype and belief that he can go far in the sport.
Advertisement
Having the aid of Jones only further enhances those expectations. So considering the former UFC champion’s push to return from a short-lived retirement for a fight at the White House card next June, Steveson wouldn’t at all mind if such a spectacle serves as the start of his own UFC career as well.
“That would be lovely,” Steveson said of debuting in the UFC on 2026’s White House card. “The best thing about it is I see Jon as hungry. When I’m always around him, I know he has that competitive side of him. He brings it when I’m around. He’s hungry now, and I know he wants to fight, and I know he wants that main event. I know he wants Alex Pereira, and Alex Pereira wants him also.
“It’s a great thing to have Jon training, myself training with him, a big lead-up to the White House card, and maybe we’re both on it. That’s a perfect world. And the world’s never perfect, but if it can work out that way, man, we would love that.”
