Gable Steveson agrees with his mentor Jon Jones’ timeline for him to become a champion in the UFC.
The decorated wrestler seems destined for big things in the world’s largest MMA promotion, but he’s still only two fights in to his professional fighting career. Despite his lack of MMA experience, training under former two-division UFC champion and one of the all-time greats, Jones, Steveson (2-0) has high confidence that can’t be questioned.
During an interview with ESPN MMA, Steveson was asked if he heard Jones’ declaration that he would become UFC heavyweight champion one year from now. Steveson said he did not hear that comment from “Bones,” but he agrees with it.
“Yeah, I believe it,” Steveson said. “I believe it because I’ve got full confidence in myself, but with a guy like Jon kind of guiding the way for me, I feel like the confidence just goes through the roof. The best thing about it is, he sees me first-hand, training with him, and hitting the pads and going through all the motions. His word is gold with that – and if it’s not next year, it’ll be soon after that. It just depends the way that the cards fall.”
Steveson’s third MMA bout is scheduled to take place at MFL 3 on Feb. 19 against Hugo Lezama. It’s the most experienced opponent Steveson has faced yet, as Lezama brings an 11-3 record into the fight.
Should he be successful, Steveson knows the UFC will be watching closely. He’s also heard the rumors that he could land a spot on the UFC’s White House card, which would be a massive introduction to the UFC audience for his debut. If things unfold in that manner, Steveson believes he could be propelled to the top quickly, considering the state of the division.
“I think it’s still the case that we’re going slow, but slow in the heavyweight division is fast,” Steveson said. “There’s a lot of missing puzzle pieces in that division that need to be kind of maneuvered through. Like I said, mixed martial arts is a hard thing, so I take all the opponents, and give them the most respect I possibly can.
“Everyone’s a great fighter, but I think with my potential, my speed, my technique, my durability, my endurance, anything, everything – and my wrestling included, is gonna be a new thing for people to see. I’m excited for people to keep kind of witnessing it, slowly now, but it’ll pick up soon.”
