Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson looks to add to his trophy case this weekend as he competes in the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships where he seeks to become a three-time champion for the University of Minnesota.
But beyond his aspirations in wrestling, which also includes a potential trip back to the Olympic games in 2028 when the event lands in Los Angeles, the now 24-year-old athletic phenom continues to tease his eventual move into MMA. While he’s always talked about fighting, Steveson took a big step forward in that regard this past year when he became an integral part of Jon Jones’ training camp as he prepared for his fight against Stipe Miocic.
Steveson approaches every athletic endeavor with the same championship mindset and he expects to do the same when it finally comes time to tackle MMA.
“I’m young and I’m hungry,” Steveson told MMA Fighting. “I want to be the best in anything I can possibly be.”
While there’s scores of fighters who have transitioned from wrestling to MMA, not everyone finds success at the same speed.
Three-time NCAA champion Bo Nickal has arguably enjoyed one of the fastest ascensions up the ranks since he decided to turn his full focus on fighting. He currently sports a perfect 7-0 record overall including four wins in the UFC with his fifth fight scheduled in May when he clashes with ex-ONE Championship two-division champion Reinier de Ridder.
Despite a brighter spotlight shining down on him than almost any other prospect with seven professional fights, Nickal has embraced his opportunities with most believing he’ll eventually capture UFC gold.
Steveson has definitely been impressed by what he’s seen so far with Nickal setting a standard for every wrestler who followed him into the sport now.
“Bo is phenomenal,” Steveson said. “If you look at Bo and the aura that Bo brings, when he steps out there we know he’s a three-time National Champion, a U23 World Champ, Olympic alternate next to David Taylor. Bo has every package possible to be the champ right now.
“He’s got such a unique style. He’s so lanky and his shots are high percentage, especially what you see in the UFC. His cage work now. The next few fights we see from him just standing with tougher guys, he’s already so perfectly collected in his wrestling background and his transition wrestling, too.”
Beyond working with Jones during his preparation for the Miocic fight this past November, Steveson had previously spent some time training with the fighters and coaches at Kill Cliff FC in Florida. That’s the same gym where Michael Chandler, Gilbert Burns and Shavkat Rakhmonov call home.
As of yet, Steveson hasn’t been able to truly dedicate himself only to MMA but he hopes once the sport gets his full attention, he’ll make moves at the same speed as Nickal did with his career.
“I think I’ll let the crowd of people decide what my talent is but I’ll let them say what they want to say.,” Steveson said. “From my own standpoint, in my own head, I think I can be up there and compete with anybody, any time. Right now, I think I can go out there and do a good job and hold my own.
“When the time is right — and we will know when the time is right — that door will open and we’ll excel in that field and move forward as much as possible.”
For now, Steveson looks to capture his third NCAA title in four years and he got things off to a fast start with a pin in his opening round matchup and then another dominant win to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals on Friday.