Gable Steveson competes in his third professional fight on Thursday in the MFL 3 main event from Mexico but despite being so young in his career, he’s already being painted as a possible savior for an increasingly lackluster heavyweight division.
As an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, who is still just 25 years old, the excitement about Steveson’s entry into MMA is understandable. He’s wiped out his first two opponents in less than three minutes total and if he wins his next fight, there’s already an expectation that he could immediately jump to the UFC.
Meanwhile, the UFC heavyweight division has been heavily criticized for a lack of top end talent not to mention very few prospects, if any, to get excited about for the future. But should the future of heavyweight already sit squarely on Steveson’s shoulders this early in his career?
“There’s no pressure,” Steveson told MMA Fighing about the expectations for his future. “I’ve been in those big spots before. I’ve been in a lot of places where [it’s like] ‘can Gable do it?’ and I have done it and I’ve kind of rewritten a lot of things for myself. There’s no pressure. It’s just another day.
“We show up and we are trained for pressure. We’re trained for that and pressure makes diamonds. Like I always say, Gable gets money and he gets a lot of it. With those diamonds, he’ll keep creating.”
While it’s undeniable that the heavyweight division, particularly in the UFC, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire lately. Reigning champion Tom Aspinall is out of action after having double eye-surgery after a poke from Ciryl Gane ended their fight this past October.
The UFC has been waiting on Aspinall to get healthy again to book the rematch but the list of legitimate contenders potentially awaiting a future title shot is rather short right now.
Steveson could potentially change all that — at least when it comes to building some anticipation for the division — and he actually appreciates that people think that much of him already.
“What do I think about the heavyweight division? There’s a lot of fantastic fighters,” Steveson said. “I’ve got nothing bad to say about anybody. I come with respect. I come with great words for everybody but I also come with power, I come with domination. I come with timing. I come with speed. I come with youthfulness and I come as Gable Steveson to show up and create my own path and to get where I need to go. I’ve never got anything bad to say about anybody. I’m going to do my thing and that works.”
“It’s an honor [that people expect so much from me]. I lot of people got a lot of faith [in me] and I’m here to prove them right. My work ethic is No. 1. I show up everyday on time. I do what I’m told and it’s going to pay off. I appreciate all the words from everybody.”
As much as Steveson appreciates the praise, he’s not overly concerned when it comes to how he’s perceived as a fighter. His goal is becoming better in every training camp and then showing off what he’s learned in his fights.
Considering he debuted this past September and the UFC has openly acknowledge interest in him, Steveson knows he just needs to keep winning and the rest will take care of itself.
“I feel I’ve put in a lot of great work, I put in a lot of great time and I have a lot of good people around me to kind of guide that path,” Steveson said. “It was inevitable that it was going to be this quick. With the name, with the stature that I come with, it was going to happen. You’ve just got to put on a good show for the people and kind of let them enjoy and let them soak it in on who you can be.
“I feel like who I can be hasn’t even been seen by a lot of people yet. They’re just putting the label of someone that can save a division on me but I feel like I’ve got a lot more to show and I’m excited for a lot of people to see.”
With a win on Thursday, Steveson would move to 3-0 and there’s a good chance he could immediately graduate to the UFC. He’s already spoken about possibly appearing on the upcoming UFC White House card in June, which would be quite the debut.
Whether it’s that event or another one, Steveson appears primed for a call up to the UFC sooner than later, although he’s keeping his chips close to the vest on what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
“We just wait and see,” Steveson said. “It could be [the UFC after this fight]. I can’t tell you. I don’t know myself. I do know but I don’t know. It’s kind of a middle ground. We’re focused on Thursday.
“We’re focused on going out there Thursday and having the best time of our lives like we always have and dominate, show up, go back home and then when I get back home Friday, we’ll see who calls and we’ll see what we respond with.”
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