Two-time NCAA Division-1 National Champion Gable Steveson won an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and is now pursuing a career in MMA. Hopefully his commitment to cage fighting lasts longer than his attempts to become a WWE wrestler and NFL lineman.
Steveson, 25, made his professional MMA debut in late 2025 and quickly racked up consecutive knockout victories, then jumped to Dirty Boxing and found similar success. Turns out the former collegiate Gopher is pretty good at beating up warm bodies on the regional circuit.
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Then again, so was Greg Hardy.
Along the way, Steveson linked up with former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who also held gold at 205 pounds. “Bones” is widely-considered the greatest MMA fighter of all time, but may not be the best coach for an impressionable young fighter based on his shenanigans outside the cage.
“There’s only one Jon Jones,” retired UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub said on The Schaub Show (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “So, if you go, ‘Jon, what did you do to get ready for (Alexander) Gustafsson in the first fight (at UFC 165)?’ He goes, ‘Party, showed up the week before, beat the sh*t out of him.’ I don’t know if that’s the best advice, man. I don’t know if that’s the smartest advice. You’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s only one Jon. The reason he’s the GOAT is because of what he did inside the Octagon. He’s not the GOAT as far as outside the Octagon.”
To Schaub’s point, a weekend of coke before a UFC main event is probably not the best gameplan.
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“If you’re taking the GOAT talk, accomplishments inside the Octagon and outside, it’s (Demetrious Johnson). It’s ‘Mighty Mouse,’ or it’s (Georges St-Pierre),” Schaub said. “Those are guys that would be great mentors. ‘Mighty Mouse,’ even though smaller, would be a much better mentor to advise you on, as far as how to handle fame, women, family, sponsorships, life outside the UFC, expanding your footprint as far as expanding your business reach and stuff like that. I would reach out to that guy or GSP, another great one.”
Steveson has yet to draw a booking for 2026 but Jones is excited to have finally “found his guy.” How long it takes the Olympian to slug his way into UFC remains to be seen, but he’s got a new fan in UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, who recently suggested Steveson was “already an elite heavyweight.”
Time will tell.
