Gable Steveson will do his best to live up to his hype this weekend at UFC 331 LIVE on Paramount+ from inside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, and that includes watching Jon Jones-style with heavyweight opponent Sean Sharaf.
A huge -2,000 betting favorite to win his second trip to the Octagon this Saturday night in LA, Steveson has experienced an up-and-down struggle week to say the least. Steveson has not only had to deal with Sharaf’s very personal and controversial trash talkbut UFC fans will continue to praise the former Olympic gold until he can prove himself at the highest level.
Fortunately for Steveson, he will get to showcase his skills once more when he meets Sharaf as part of the UFC 331 main card. Sharaf certainly isn’t the most dangerous opponent Steveson could face right now, but he’s the next name Steveson needs to beat to climb the UFC heavyweight ranks. Oddsmakers are fully backing Steveson to take care of business, but the 26-year-old prospect still needs to deliver the goods.
Fortunately, Steveson has coach Jon Jones behind him to help him navigate the ups and downs of the fight game. Steveson has fully embraced Jones’ guidance and is already showing similarities to the UFC legend. It includes UFC 331 official weigh-ins when Steveson pulled a classic Jones move and refused to meet Sharaf’s eyes as they stared. Fans may call Steveson a copycat for this, but he believes it’s a strategy.
“It’s standard Jon Jones protocol,” Steveson said after the UFC 331 ceremonial weigh-ins (see here). “We want our opponent to earn our respect and Sean hasn’t earned our respect in any aspect. It’s nothing personal. It just has to happen now.”
“You expect a tough matchup,” Steveson explained when asked about the advantage of not staring down an opponent. “You expect someone to come out and really look you in the eye and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to hit you.’ If we look the other way, we’re taking away the credibility of even that communication, so we’ll figure it out tomorrow.
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