Gable Steveson says training with Jon Jones ‘definitely lit a fire’ to make the move to MMA

Olympic champion Gable Steveson had plenty of options after capturing his gold medal back in 2021 and that hasn’t changed much as he returns to college for his final year of eligibility at the University of Minnesota.

Following a stint with WWE and playing football for the first time in his life with the Buffalo Bills during the NFL pre-season, the now 24-year-old phenom also popped up recently as one of the main training partners helping Jon Jones get ready for his recent win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. While fighting has always been something Steveson expected to explore in the future, working alongside arguably the greatest of all-time has effectively sealed the deal.

“I do have goals in mind,” Steveson said when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I would love to go to L.A. in 2028. Winning the Olympics in America would be such a big thing, especially having it in L.A. with magnitude of what L.A. is. That’s definitely a big part of why I came back to wrestle. Also, I think a lot of doors are still open. I went to the Buffalo Bills and after that I had a few teams reach out about putting my on practice squad and that definitely kept me into football, too. But also the door of MMA is slowly starting to open up.

“As I put the gloves on, I really like the feeling of going out there and mixing everything together from wrestling to boxing to kickboxing to jiu-jitsu and putting all the pieces together in one. That definitely put a huge spark in me to do MMA, too. Wherever the path leads me to after this wrestling season is going to be great regardless but the MMA thing, when I tell you it definitely lit a fire under me. Being in that camp definitely put a big, big gas light and lit it really hard and burned the fumes in me.”

It turns out Steveson’s relationship with Jones actually dates back a couple of years and he was planning on helping the UFC heavyweight champion last year before a torn pectoral muscle prevented him from fighting Miocic in 2023.

When the fight got rescheduled, Steveson reached out and Jones was more than happy to have him join the training camp.

While the focus was on Jones and getting him ready for a title defense, Steveson was also able to work with the same coaches and training partners as he started to get his feet wet for a future in MMA.

“Overall [the experience] was great,” Steveson said. “Definitely an honor to be part of a great performance and seeing the product that we put together go out in the cage and flourish. The way the knockout, the spinning back kick to the side went, it was just flawless execution from him and from his kickboxing coach and the coaches that he has, too. I feel like I played a small role in something that was really big and I was happy to be there.

“Just when I was down there, I was doing MMA also and I really enjoyed it, too. Just being able to put the gloves on and piece everything together slowly. Definitely it’s going to take some time to get where it needs to go but time is all I have. I’m honored to be in Albuquerque with Jon and Brandon Gibson and Greg Jackson and all the other guys, too, to showcase who I was but also for them to put their eyes on me and put me through a lot of drills and put me through a lot of work. That’s where I kind of fell in love with it.”

As much as he’s already thinking about making the move to MMA, Steveson is staying focused on his college wrestling season for now — and he already hit the ground running with a pair of lopsided wins in his first two matches while outscoring his opponents by a combined score of 38-7.

That said, Steveson acknowledges that he wants to stay busy after college is done, which is why he’s not opposed to the idea of training and fighting MMA while still preparing for a potential run at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I would love to combine them both and maybe wrestle the Olympics and then maybe a few weeks later or a few weeks before, go out there and win a big fight,” Steveson said. “I think the magnitude of it can be really great.

“That’s just a time will tell story. Do I see myself winning the Olympics and being something great in something else? Yes, of course.”

Prior to returning to college, Steveson actually flirted with getting back into wrestling earlier with a potential run at the 2024 Olympics but the timing just didn’t work out.

The American team without Steveson ended up failing to capture a gold medal in wrestling for the first time since 1968 with his heavyweight replacement Mason Parris losing in the opening round.

“Seeing the heavyweight division gave a little steam to it but it didn’t bother me as a viewer seeing how it turned out for America,” Steveson said. “I wish the team would have captured a few gold medals but it’s the Olympics. You never know what’s going to happen.

“The heavyweight division is such a tossup and the guy I beat [Geno Petriashvili] in the 2021 Olympics won this past Olympics. You never know who’s going to come out on top.”

Now that he’s back to wrestling full-time, Steveson hopes he can reclaim his throne, especially with the chance to possibly compete for another gold medal in 2028.

“Do I believe I can come out on top every single time? Yes, of course, but it’s bigger than that,” Steveson explained. “I believe the U.S. had a tough time, maybe didn’t show up at the right time. But I believe heavyweight wrestling needs Gable and Gable is here to give it to them.”

When it comes to MMA, Steveson plans to continue incorporating some training into his workouts even in the midst of wrestling season. In addition to training alongside Jones more recently, Steveson has also spent time at Kill Cliff FC in Florida working with coaches like Henri Hooft in the past.

MMA may not be in his immediate future but Steveson promises he’s going to fight sooner or later — and he expects to find just as much success.

“I really hope so,” Steveson said about duplicating in MMA what he’s already done in wrestling. “I think wrestling translates really well to MMA. I’ve been working on boxing a lot when I was down there in the camp with Jon. I think it will translate really well.

“I know who I can be in anything and I want to be the best. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best and go out there and put in your best efforts. I believe I can be anything.”