Media Gable Steveson: I'm adapting to MMA looking at Islam and Khamzat, you need to change tactics for MMA

[Unheralded Truth]

Gable Steveson recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience to preview a year where he hopes to find himself under the UFC banner.

The 25-year-old is being tipped by MMA journalists for a fast rise to the heavyweight title, should he quickly reach the big leagues. Steveson now reveals that he plans to fulfill these predictions by adapting
his wrestling style to MMA in the same way that Makhachev and Chimaev have. Having seen where dominating D1 wrestlers struggle in MMA:

“In the UFC right now, the guys that are dominating and winning are kind of putting their wrestling base first, but they're making it MMA wrestling,” Steveson said.

“I feel like when a lot of D1 wrestlers come to MMA, they just don’t make the switch of how to take the right shot here, and how to finish the right shot, and how to use your feet to trip their feet out on the cage,
and if you get stuck in a guillotine, then how do you move from that spot as a wrestler?"

“You see the guys that are doing it the best — it's Islam and Khamzat—they are really going out there and attacking, always making sure that people understand, ‘Hey, you’ve gotta fear this, and next thing I’m
gonna come with the hands.’ So that’s the biggest thing we’re working on now to find success” he concluded.

 

[SSgt Dickweed]

Olympic champion at 20 years old. Tried WWE, failed. Tried NFL, failed. Tried to make a comeback in amateur wrestling, loses. Now trying UFC, kinda skeptical how far he can get. What a weird ride he had so far.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

A confidence-inspiring take, I'll give him that. Applying it is different than saying it, but he's got time to try it.

 

[CannotWin]

Most intriguing MMA prospect in God knows how long.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

 

[Serge421]

I wonder if this guy can take consecutive body shots?

 

[HHJ]

I wonder if this guy can take consecutive body shots?

Jiri absolutley ended Khalil with those.

But there was no threat of a takedown there.


Anyway once these guys get the fight experience and instincts, and find pockets to unload on guys and switch back to the grappling, its over for these dudes trying to fight em.

 

[ryanrandy]

I would say he already runs through most of the HW division. Less than 10 guys even give him an issue.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Olympic champion at 20 years old. Tried WWE, failed. Tried NFL, failed. Tried to make a comeback in amateur wrestling, loses. Now trying UFC, kinda skeptical how far he can get. What a weird ride he had so far.

Dude has baggage and I have the same questions about his future in MMA. He's young, but wrestling and particularly 'Murican folkstyle wrestling is grueling - there's only so much mileage a human body can take and dude has been wrestling at a high level since he could walk.

On the plus side, it's HW so the division is paper thin, he won't have to cut weight and it's still possible to be elite when you're old as shit.

Biggest x factor is 1:08 of the Rogan podcast when he says he's expecting his first child this week. Crying newborn in the house = he won't be sleeping for shit or be able to focus on training.

 

[loisestrad]

Biggest x factor is 1:08 of the Rogan podcast when he says he's expecting his first child this week. Crying newborn in the house = he won't be sleeping for shit or be able to focus on training.

Never in the history of mankind has anyone been able to do their job with a newborn.

 

[ChickenBrother]

Never in the history of mankind has anyone been able to do their job with a newborn.

Spoken like someone with no kids. It's a tradeoff for most but YMMV.

 

[haj02]

I keep reading this like it’s some cautionary tale. “Tried this, tried that, weird ride, baggage, newborn, mileage.” And all I hear is the same noise that always comes out when an actual outlier shows up and refuses to fit the comfortable script.

Let’s slow this down.

This isn’t some regional heavyweight who discovered wrestling late. This is Gable Steveson. Olympic gold at 20. One of those A-level athletes who doesn’t need MMA to legitimize him—MMA raises its ceiling when athletes like this walk in. And suddenly the issue is that he understands the transition problem better than most of the people doubting him?

Listen to what he’s actually saying. He’s not talking about spamming folkstyle takedowns and hoping for mercy. He’s talking about MMA wrestling. Cage mechanics. Shot selection. Hand threats. Guillotine awareness. That’s not ignorance—that’s someone who’s studied the failure points and decided not to repeat them.

The references matter too. Islam Makhachev. Khamzat Chimaev. Pressure first. Threat stacking. Wrestling that forces striking reactions. That’s the modern blueprint, and he’s acknowledging it before he’s even in the cage.

And then there’s the part people keep skirting around: mentorship.

When Jon Jones is publicly investing time, advice, and belief in you, that’s not a coincidence. That’s not clout-chasing. That’s the most accomplished mixed martial artist of this era recognizing a transferable ceiling. Jones doesn’t hand out validation lightly, his entire career is built on identifying advantages early and exploiting them ruthlessly. If someone like that sees value, it tells you the raw material isn’t theoretical.

The heavyweight concern trolling is the funniest part. “Mileage.” “Age.” “Can he take body shots?” Meanwhile this division accelerates athletes with half the base, worse gas tanks, and zero grappling depth because the bar simply isn’t as high. It’s how the division has functioned for years.

People want prospects to arrive broken, desperate, and grateful. This one shows up confident, literate, and already speaking the language of the sport and suddenly it’s a “weird ride.” This is what it looks like when new blood doesn’t ask permission. When the next wave isn’t impressed by how things used to be done. You don’t have to crown him today. But pretending this isn’t the most intriguing heavyweight roll of the dice in years is just denial.

When A-level athleticism, modern adaptation, and endorsement from the best to ever do it intersect, divisions change whether people are ready or not.

 

[Black0ut]

just curious to see what happens when he isn’t the “hammer” in a fight, like if he fights someone who can stuff a TD but also has better striking then him, how does he react?

Don’t get me wrong, the guy probably runs through the majority of HW, but I still need to see him face better comp. before I call him “the new breed of HW”

 

[rear naked ankle pick]

he is basically less talented version of me

He will go incredibly far in UFC

 

[oski]

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Send the neckbeards 2-3 years New Mexico and forget.

 

[rear naked ankle pick]

View attachment 1128773

Send the neckbears 2-3 years New Mexico and forget.

i didnt finish first mexico yet let alone new one

 

[Pequeño Corey]

i didnt finish first mexico yet let alone new one

You even made it to Dulgaria yet?

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Well, emulating Islam/Khamzat and adapting your wrestling style to be smothering like theirs is the absolute right way to approach the game

Especially since Gable can get in on probably any HWs legs on roster

It’s gonna be about how he chains and controls the positions he earns, rather than losing positions earned and making all the work for nothing

Islam and Khamzat (and Khabib) don’t allow their shots to fail, causing them to make several attempts and fatigue in the process

They control every inch they take from you and are always looking to take more and more every movement. Excellent at pinning too

 

[HHJ]

Well, emulating Islam/Khamzat and adapting your wrestling style to be smothering like theirs is the absolute right way to approach the game

Especially since Gable can get in on probably any HWs legs on roster

It’s gonna be about how he chains and controls the positions he earns, rather than losing positions earned and making all the work for nothing

Islam and Khamzat (and Khabib) don’t allow their shots to fail, causing them to make several attempts and fatigue in the process

They control every inch they take from you and are always looking to take more and more every movement. Excellent at pinning too

Make a mentally tough guy like Dustin Porier say " I cant get this fuckin guy off me, man !"