One Win Away: Gable Steveson on the Edge of the UFC With Jon Jones at His Side
Gable Steveson is one win away from the UFC, and he knows exactly what that means. The Olympic‑gold‑medal wrestler returns this Thursday at Mexico Fight League 3 in Monterrey, facing 14‑fight veteran Hugo Lezama in what has become a de facto UFC audition for the 25‑year‑old heavyweight prospect. A victory would put Steveson at 3–0 in MMA, with all three finishes coming in under a minute, and push him closer to the stage he wants: the Octagon, possibly alongside mentor Jon Jones.
Gable Steveson Just One Win Away from the UFC With Jon Jones at His Side
Steveson has already laid out his vision. He told MMA Fighting that if he wins in Mexico, he plans to call for his UFC debut at the White House, tying his next step directly to the UFC’s return to Washington. UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard was seen at Steveson’s 15‑second knockout of Billy Swanson at Dirty Boxing Championship 4, and the two later had what Steveson described as a “healthy” conversation about his path toward the promotion. UFC president Dana White has said the organization is “very much” interested in Steveson once he gathers more experience, an open‑door signal that this weekend is as much about optics as it is about record.
The narrative around Steveson has grown louder with every finish. He is already being labeled as the “savior” of a heavyweight division starved for fresh draws. He hears the talk but insists he has more to show. “I feel like I put in a lot of great work,” he said. “It was inevitable that it was going to be this quick, with the name, the stature that I come with. It was going to happen. You just got to put on a good show for the people and let them soak it in on who you can be. And I feel like who I can be hasn’t even been seen by a lot of people yet.”
Steveson’s relationship with Jones is central to how he talks about his growth. He called Jones a legend, a close friend, and a coach all at once. “Oh man, my relationship with him is everything,” Steveson said. “It’s kind of created the way I fight. It’s kind of created the way I want to fight in the future. He’s my close friend. He’s my coach. He’s everything in between. I take everything he says and I soak it all in to make sure he’s proud and make sure all the other coaches are proud.”
Jones has rarely attached himself so closely to another fighter, but he has publicly stated that he believes Steveson is built for a major UFC run and is willing to coach him. Steveson has trained with Jones’ team, including drills that mirror Jones’ own preparation, and he credits that environment for sharpening his fight IQ and striking. He also acknowledges that Jones’ own controversies create skepticism from outsiders, but he separates the mentorship from the noise. “You know, a lot of people kind of overshadow with a lot of other things,” he said. “If you look over that overshadowing part, his mentorship is the best thing that we can have.”
Steveson is still wrestling‑first in identity, even as he leans into MMA. “I’m an MMA guy, but I’m a wrestler first,” he said. “I just let other things come before wrestling right now to show the world who I am. When it comes time, I’ll throw the punches, the shots, the knees, the elbows. But I’m always wrestle first. I show love to all the wrestling community. Somehow I just got electricity in my hands, and it just works like that too.”
On the fan‑driven hype, he projects humility and ambition in the same breath. “I appreciate all the words that all the fans are saying,” he said. “If I have any fans, I hope I’ve got a lot. I appreciate the words that they’re all saying and may they keep guiding those words to make me a bigger star than I even thought I could be.”
He is also blunt about the pressure tag. “I’ve been in those big spots before,” he said. “There’s no pressure. We’re trained for that. Pressure makes diamonds. And like I always say, Gabriel gets money and he gets a lot of it, too. So with those diamonds, he’ll keep creating.”
This weekend, the pressure is factual: one win away from the UFC, in front of a global audience watching Steveson decide whether his star power matches his skill.
