As an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and an athletic freak for a heavyweight, Gable Steveson could have worked with virtually anybody to get him ready for his transition into MMA.
But the 25-year-old prospect lucked into partnering with Jon Jones prior to his showdown against Stipe Miocic when the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion was seeking physically imposing grapplers to get ready for the fight. Steveson was more than happy to help but that training camp forged a bond with Jones and it didn’t take long for the University of Minnesota standout to realize he found the perfect coach and mentor to help him reach his goals in fighting.
“My relationship with him is everything,” Steveson said about Jones when speaking with MMA Fighting. “It’s kind of crazy the way I fight, he’s kind of created the way how I want to fight in the future. The dude’s a legend but he’s also my close friend now. He’s my close friend, he’s my coach, he’s everything in between.
“It’s an honor to be with someone like that and for someone to guide you along the way with that kind of stature is crazy. I take everything he says, I take it and I soak it all in and I try do the best I can to make sure he’s proud and make sure all the other coaches are proud. Right now, everybody’s smiling ear to ear and we’re going to keep it that way.”
Steveson is quick to heap praise on his other coaches as well including Brandon Gibson and Greg Jackson, who were also in his corner alongside Jones when he moved to 3-0 in his career with a first-round stoppage victory at WFL 3.
But Jones being considered arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time brings a different level of attention to that partnership, especially considering how much he’s talked about Steveson as the future of the sport.
In fact, Jones didn’t blink when he said that Steveson would likely end up in the UFC sooner than later and his path to becoming champion wouldn’t take all that long.
While he’s not making any declarations about conquering the UFC heavyweight division in short order, Steveson appreciates that Jones has that much faith in him already.
Just don’t let him lead you to coke domestic violence and duis.
Actually an incredible training partner and probably coach for where Gable is at in his career. I wouldn’t exactly follow him outside the gym, but just for skills and learning, he may actually be a perfect match for Gable.
