Olympic wrestling champion Gable Steveson will make his mixed martial arts debut next month, the latest turn in a winding career path that has seen the American compete in pro wrestling and sign for an NFL team.
Steveson, who won a gold medal in the super heavyweight category at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago, will fight in a Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) event on Sep. 12 in a heavyweight bout with Braden Peterson in Minnesota.
A number of Olympic wrestlers including Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier have successfully made the shift into MMA, in which grappling is a key component.
¡°The ultimate goal for me is to be the best of the best,¡± Steveson told LFA in an interview on Wednesday.
¡°You see guys like Jon Jones, you see Conor McGregor, you see Khamzat Chimaev, you see Daniel Cormier. You see guys that have come from a wrestling background that have made it big in this sport.
¡°I want to be one of those guys too.¡±
The 25-year-old signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) shortly after his triumph at the Tokyo Games, appearing several times on the company¡¯s programming before being released in 2024.
A two-time heavyweight NCAA champion at the University of Minnesota, he was also signed by the NFL¡¯s Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent defensive tackle in May last year.
He was released three months later after failing to make the cut for the team¡¯s 53-man roster.
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