Las Vegas — Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson arrives in the UFC this Saturday, with the 3-0 heavyweight being one of the most talked-about rookies in years, and one of the hottest heavyweight prospects in much, much longer.
Middleweight Bo Nickal might be the closest, given the wrestling pedigree, or Henry Cejudo, as both are Olympic gold medal winners. With heavyweight thin as it is, Steveson’s move to MMA, long anticipated, has created a lot of dream scenarios. Names like Ciryl Gane, the current interim champ, have already popped up.
“Of course I’m eyeballing them, but my first task is to go out there Saturday night and put on a great performance, and let everybody in this room know that I’m here,” Steveson noted during Wednesday’s media day, his first in the UFC.
As for what type of performance he plans to put on, “this will be the show that I want it to be, and it will be the Gable Steveson show. When I walk out there, I hope everyone wants to tune in, wants to see a vicious victory, and a dominant performance from me,” stated Steveson. “And it doesn’t matter that I’m getting thrown into the fire on the Conor McGregor card. I’ve been [putting on] big performances my whole life, and it’s just another day for me.”
Steveson’s debut opponent Elisha Ellison isn’t a household name, but rather a promotional newcomer himself. He still has the NCAA and Olympic wrestling champ’s full attention. “This is the perfect debut opponent for me. All respect to Elisha for taking this match-up. I come out there, like I said, treat everybody the same, whether it’s Derrick Lewis, Josh Hokit, Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane.”
It’s his match-up against Elisha Ellison that Steveson is looking at now, Steveson added. He did touch on Josh Hokit, however, who has spent time in the same gym as Gable.
“Josh Hokit does what Josh Hotkit does, and what he’s doing is great for him,” stated Steveson. As for the character(s) Hokit plays, which have often been criticized, “the character work is working for him. Applause to him for making it work,” said Steveson. “If people like it, people like it. If people don’t, who cares?”
Watch the full UFC 329 media day appearance by Gable Steveson above.
