Gable Steveson entered UFC 329 carrying enormous expectations, and he wasted little time proving he belonged.
After dominating Elisha Ellison in his long-awaited promotional debut on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Steveson left the Octagon with a statement victory, fired back at fellow wrestling star Bo Nickal, joked about the accidental low blow that briefly paused the action, and made it clear he’s already targeting a quick turnaround at Madison Square Garden.
“What a cool thing, you know. Go out there on a big card, a lot of pressure, a lot of people waiting to see what can Gable Steveson do, and I hopefully I delivered to everyone on their TV screens and to everyone who was an average fan that may not know me,” Steveson told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.
“(They know) me now.”
Steveson also had a little fun with the accidental low blow that briefly halted the fight, joking that Ellison welcomed the timeout after struggling with the relentless pressure. In classic post-fight fashion he laughed off the moment while insisting the break ultimately didn’t change the outcome.
“All kudos to Elisha Ellison, but I think Elisha wanted a break, and Marc (Goddard) saw it and was like hey can I give Elisha a break before he gets whooped by Gable Steveson? Sadly, it happened to him,” he said.
“He got his break. He got time to recuperate, but it just had to happen to him. Today wasn’t his day.”
Steveson couldn’t resist firing back after Bo Nickal joked that he’d gas out in his UFC debut, but he made it clear the trash talk came from a place of mutual respect. While he poked fun at Nickal’s own cardio issues in a recent fight, he emphasized there’s no bad blood between two of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of their generation.
“I like Bo Nickal. I didn’t mean no harm. Bo Nickal telling me that he’s going to gas me out after he got gassed out a couple fights ago is a crazy thing. So Bo Nickal, I didn’t mean no harm, I had to take a shot back at you if you take a shot at me,” he said.
“But we’re friends. Wrestlers always got to stay together. Bo Nickal is one of the best collegiate wrestlers of all time and I hope he keeps winning and I hope he keeps doing his thing. I’ll always be a fan of his just because of wrestling.”
With a dominant UFC debut now in the books, Steveson isn’t planning on taking much time off. The Olympic gold medalist said he’ll celebrate the win with his family before getting right back into training, while already eyeing a potential return at Madison Square Garden later this year.
“Today I’m going to enjoy the moment. Tomorrow I’m going to go home and enjoy it with my family. Monday I go back to work,” said Steveson.
“If it means something fast and it comes quick, I would love to, but I think MSG is in November. MSG would be amazing. The last time I was at MSG Jon Jones spinning back kick Stipe (Miocic) so it would be cool to keep that legacy going at Madison Square Garden.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Gable Steveson above.
