LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 19: Jon Jones coaches Gable Steveson before his heavyweight fight against Sean Sharaf at UFC 331 at Crypto.com Arena on September 19, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
What a difference a week makes. Leading up to UFC 331, Gable Steveson was being touted as the next big thing in the heavyweight division. With his Olympic gold pedigree and Jon Jones in the corner, no one would be able to stop his rise.
“Everybody’s gobsmacked when this guy comes out,” Joe Rogan declared before Steveson was even added to the UFC roster. “It’s crazy, the speed this guy has.”
All but 0-2 UFC heavyweight Sean Sharaf … or should we say 1-2 after Sharaf knocked out Steveson with a big left hand just 12 seconds into their fight on the UFC 331 main card. Steveson didn’t get a chance to show any Olympic-level wrestling or his Rogan-touted speed. Instead, his tendency to crack stood out, and this time it cost him the fight.
Sharaf went hard on Steveson before they landed in Los Angeles. He called Gable a rapist on social media and calling him a “loophole” after a 2019 sexual assault case was overturned due to a questionable Minnesota law. By the time the UFC 331 press conference ended, Steveson should have had some sort of response ready. He didn’t do that.
Before making the jump to MMA, Steveson signed with WWE, but was quickly washed out of the organization. Hearing him try to answer Sharaf’s taunts or even softball questions from the reporters on the situation, you get a good idea why: the guy is not a good speaker.
“We’ve got to move on, move on with our lives,” Steveson told Aaron Bronsteter ahead of UFC 331. “We can’t allow something that could have happened — it probably didn’t or whatever happened, just slow us down.”
Gable used to be nothing more than a little Bo Nickal-esque squealing from fans over Steveson’s doorman suitorship. But fan sentiment toward Steveson turned ugly in a big way during fight week. Fans began booing Steveson at the press conference, booing him at the weigh-in and mercilessly as he left the cage before the official decision was read out for Sean Sharaf’s victory.
Suddenly, the blue chip prospect who was supposed to be the savior of the heavyweight division looks like he could become the biggest MMA bust in recent memory. We are not there yet and it is too early to scream for fraud control. But Steveson is going to have to dig deep to turn this thing around, and he’s going to have to do it with a lot of people booing him mercilessly in the process.
Steveson tried to become an NFL player and a WWE superstar, and left both when he hit setbacks. This is his first major setback in MMA. How will he react this time?