Gable Steveson made a major statement with his victory at Dirty Boxing 4 last Friday.
Steveson (1-0), the 2020 Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist, gained more valuable experience in the fight game by scoring a 15-second knockout over Bellator veteran Billy Swanson at The Pinnacle in Nashville, Tennessee.
During his post-fight interview, Steveson addressed UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, who was sitting ringside, saying, “Mick, you’ve seen a little bit. I’d love to show a lot more.”
“I did talk to Mick,” Steveson told Ariel Helwani on Wednesday. “You know, it's cool to go out there, have one fight, (then) to go out there and have a guy so high up in the UFC come and watch me. It's a blessing. And so I talked to Mick, and we'll see where it goes from there.”
“I Know Where Superstardom Comes”
Friday’s win came just weeks after Steveson earned the first victory of his MMA career, needing only 98 seconds to stop Braden Petersen at LFA 217. Given his exceptional athletic pedigree and the lack of depth in heavyweight divisions across major promotions worldwide, it may not be long before Steveson’s talents are in high demand.
“I feel like I'm still taking my time,” he told Helwani when asked what comes next. “I feel like there's still a lot of things for me to gain (by) being in a lot more fights. I mean, I would love to take my time. I would love to see the see the landscape and really kind of go out there and fill myself out and see where I can take this fighting game at. And, you know, PFL is a great thing. UFC is a great thing. Maybe, both contracts will hit the table. I'm not sure. But I know where I want to go and I know where superstardom comes. And I think I can, I think I could be something big.”
