Gable Steveson got a little more cage time for his third professional fight but still scored a first round finish to move to 3-0 in the MFL 3 main event on Thursday in Mexico.
The highly touted prospect and Olympic gold medalist, who counts Jon Jones among his coaches, faced his most experienced opponent to date with 11-3 heavyweight Hugo Lezama but the result was still the same as his first two fights. Despite his wrestling pedigree, Steveson really didn’t have to show off many takedowns as Lezama kept making mistakes that put him on the ground and the 25-year-old heavyweight made him pay each and every time.
Steveson ended the fight after he bloodied Lezama and just trapped him on the canvas where he continued to unloaded huge, heavy punches and the referee finally saw enough to stop the fight. The stoppage came at 3:50 in the first round as Steveson picked up his third professional win.
“I feel great,” Steveson said about the win. “A lot of things to get better on. But I’m getting better each day. Tough fight, a guy who didn’t give up. A great competitor, I’m glad he stepped in.”
The tone was set early when Lezama made an ill-fated attempt to go for a takedown of his own but Steveson quickly stuffed that and immediately started throwing bombs from above. Lezama survived with a series of upkicks that led to Steveson standing back up again and it appeared he was willing to test his striking.
But Lezama just kept throwing big sloppy shots on the feet and he kept ending up back on the ground again. The most effective strike came from a spin kick that actually clipped Steveson but did no damage as he walked through that and continued coming after him on the feet.
Stevesen eventually grabbed the body lock and effectively brought Lezama down to the ground for the final time as he just kept blasting away with punches. With Lezama turtled up and just protecting his head, Steveson unloaded a barrage of shots that forced the referee to intervene before any futher punishment was handed out.
Steveson celebrated his win with Jones along with coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson as he takes one step closer to his ultimate goal, which is competing in the UFC. But despite the expectation that he’ll be fighting in the octagon soon enough, Steveson didn’t make any declarations that could be next for him after this latest win.
“I’m going to take a shower and go back to the hotel and fall asleep,” Steveson said when asked what’s next for him. “Onto the next for me.”
It probably won’t take long for the UFC to make that call to sign Steveson and bring him on the roster but for now he can celebrate his latest win and another first-round finish.
Subscribe to my channel
