Gable Steveson is officially an MMA fighter, but his recent professional debut was supposed to follow a grappling match against famed jiu-jitsu wizard Craig Jones.
Steveson was slated to take part in his first-career grappling match in late August against Jones at CJI 2. Jones had teased the possibility of the match being his own potential retirement, and ultimately took on retired UFC veteran Chael Sonnen as a short-notice replacement after Steveson withdrew, choking Sonnen out twice in short order.
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Speaking on Monday’s edition of Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Steveson stated that the idea to face Jones was born in February, however he suffered a turf toe injury at the start of this past NCAA wrestling tournament, which resulted in the match’s cancellation. On top of that, though, there was also a red flag the Olympic gold medalist alleged to have noticed when he and Jones negotiated the match.
“Long story short, [there were] a couple funky stipulations around there that we didn’t agree upon,” Steveson said.
“If you really want to ask, there was a look in the eye of saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to retire after this match. I don’t want to take this loss. Can you do this for me?’ And we’ll leave it as that.”
When asked if he was implying that Jones wanted him to throw the match, Steveson said yes.
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Steveson added that he was fully willing to compete in the match without the alleged stipulation, but in the end his turf toe flare-up was too much to overcome.
Now that the opportunity has passed and he successfully debuted in MMA this past Friday with a 98-second stoppage win at LFA 217, Steveson has no interest in rebooking the Jones grappling match.
“I was looking at an exciting match,” he said. “I was looking at a match that we were going to go out there and sell tickets for, and go out there and put on a good show. Eventually, the question did come along. We sat, we thought, we disagreed. We went back to them as time got closer. Just popped up with a bad injury and had to focus on my next thing, which is putting the gloves on and making sure I could take care of what I needed to take care of.
“I personally did not have any ill intention with pulling out of this match. My foot, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to go out there and just limp around and not look good for anybody, and just make sure everything just runs down a hill that it doesn’t need to be run down? I stayed quiet because I’m a man. I’m not going to go out there and speak bad about somebody because something’s wrong or something didn’t go my way. I look at things in a different way. Maybe [Jones] doesn’t because he hasn’t accomplished anything in his field. He’s lost to Gordon Ryan about three or four times. His team, The B-Team, won the Craig Jones Invitational but probably shouldn’t have. So that’s a weird thing too — he’s got more digging than worrying about me.”
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Jones promptly reacted to Steveson’s claims on Monday, writing on Instagram:
So you agreed to a “work”?
But then got injured and had to pull out of a work.
Make that make sense for me?
Jones added the sarcastic caption “A man of truth” to his post and posted several follow-ups with meme edits of Steveson’s interview, referring to the Olympic champion “Toe Jay Steveson.”
Steveson, 25, has been an athletic renaissance man since he captured Olympic gold in 2020. After the massive career highlight, the American tried his hand in a brief stint with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills without having any prior football experience. Steveson also dipped his toes into the professional wrestling world by signing with WWE. When neither avenue panning out, Steveson returned to collegiate wrestling for the 2024-25 season, ultimately finishing as the runner-up in 2025’s NCAA tournament finals.
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After his first MMA win this past weekend, Steveson doesn’t plan to re-commit to the wrestling world by pursuing the 2028 Olympics. He aims to return for his sophomore MMA outing before 2026, targeting a comfortable fight weight of 245 pounds after entering his pro debut at a heavier 259 pounds.
“I had the biggest rush of my life putting on those gloves and getting that victory. I want to keep it that way,” Steveson said.
“I want to stick to MMA. I want to take it one day at a time. I’m 1-0 right now. I would like to be 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, and just keep it going, and just believe in myself. You’ve got to focus on one thing, and I want to focus on this.”
Considering his credentials, Friday’s performance was as dominant as could’ve been anticipated from Steveson, who smashed through Braden Peterson in LFA 217’s co-main event. Thanks to his background alone, Steveson is already one of the top prospects in all of MMA. And while the opportunity will likely be there to get snatched up by a major organization before accruing significant in-cage experience, he likes the idea of staying put in LFA for as many fights as possible.
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There’s no rush for Steveson to reach the pinnacle of the sport, even if that’s ultimately where he sees himself.
“My goal is to be UFC [heavyweight] champion,” Steveson said. “I want to go out there and be with the best, look the best in the face, go out there and show the world what I’m made of — and I know I can do it. If those fans think I’m ready, and they want to see Gable Steveson where he needs to go, of course. But in my eyes, do I have things to work on? Of course, and I will keep working on those things and keeping showing the [progress] as we go along.
“I’ve never tried to jump the gun. The younger version of me — I’m 25 now — if I was 21, I might have said, ‘Hey man, throw me out there and let me see the sharks.’ But right now, I know where I stand and what I can be. I’m honored to be in a spot with great people around me — Jon Jones, Brandon Gibson, Greg Jackson. I have a good team with me. When they say the time is right, we’ll be right there.”
