Gable Steveson, the controversial former Olympic gold medalist, has signed a deal to continue his mixed martial arts career in the UFC Octagon. The news was announced during Saturday’s UFC 327 broadcast.
Steveson won gold in freestyle Wrestling at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo while a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers collegiate squad. Steveson would look to capitalize on his fame by signing with WWE in 2021 to pursue a professional wrestling career. He would continue his amateur career with Minnesota, winning the 2022 NCAA Division I championship. During his time with Minnesota, Steveson was briefly suspended after he and a teammate were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Steveson retired from amateur wrestling as a two-time national champion and three-time Big Ten conference champion before returning to Minnesota in 2024 after being released from his WWE contract earlier in the year. He would lose to Wyatt Hendrickson in the national championship match in a shocking upset.
Also in 2024, Steveson attempted to transition to a professional football career, signing a three-year contract with the Buffalo Bills in May before being released by the team in August.
Steveson was always considered an elite prospect should he transition to mixed martial arts. Steveson has held up his end of those expectations thus far in his career with a 3-0 record, all three wins coming by third-round stoppage. Steveson also competed in Dirty Boxing Championship, where he scored a 15-second stoppage.
A training partner of Jon Jones, Steveson enters the UFC with an elite wrestling background and a quickly improving striking game.
