Gable Steveson Gets Debute Against Elisha Ellison At UFC 329
Gable Steveson will make his UFC debut Elisha Ellison at UFC 329 on July 11th in Las Vegas.
Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (3-0 MMA) will make his UFC debut against Elisha Ellison (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The heavyweight bout was announced Saturday and lands on one of the biggest cards of the summer. Steveson opened as a -2000 betting favorite. That number basically tells the whole story of this matchup.
The Hype Behind Steveson
Steveson is among the most successful amateur wrestlers to transition to MMA. He got Olympic gold at 125 kilograms in Tokyo, won two NCAA Division I heavyweight national titles at the University of Minnesota (where he went 85-2), and accrued five time All American status before he became a professional fighter. Steveson's cage career has been short but violent. He won against Braden Peterson in 98 seconds at LFA 217 last September. He KO'd Kevin Hein 24 seconds into APFC 21 two months after that. And in February, he wiped out Hugo Lezama (11-3 at the time) at MFL 3 in Mexico in the first round. Three fights, three first round finishes. The UFC made his signing official during the UFC 327 main card back in April. Jon Jones, who has been coaching Steveson for more than a year, has called him a future champ and says he has the potential to become one of the best fighters in the game.
The Matchmaking Says Everything
Ellison isn't here to win this fight. Its Not a commentary on him as a fighter. He's got a 100 percent finish rate in his five wins, with four of those coming via knockout. However, he is 0-1 in the UFC and currently ranked 38th out of 40 fighters in Tapology's heavyweight rankings because he did get stopped by Brando Pericic in the first round at UFC Perth. This is a debut tailor made for a "highlight reel". The UFC wants Steveson's first trip to the Octagon to come on one of the International Fight Week cards, with all the big lights and massive crowds, and they want it to come against someone who will bang the drum but isn't supposed to be problematic. The -2000 odds say that louder than any matchmaker could. Ellison is a bit of a wild card in that regard. Most likely, the dude does not get out of the first round of this fight. But if he comes forward and swings, if Steveson gets careless, feels the pressure of the big show or some combination gets through, this fight could get interesting. Ellison has finished everyone he has ever beaten, all of them.
Training Under Jones
Steveson has been training with Jones since before his MMA debut. He originally went to lend a hand to Jones in his preparations for Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, training with Gordon Ryan in what was one of the most hyped camps in recent memory. After that, Jones flipped the script and started training Steveson to fight. Steveson talked after he signed with the UFC about what it was about Jon Jones that led him to want to work with him.
“How he went about things, how he talked to people, how he greeted people, how he walked, how he punched,” Steveson said. “I saw everything. And I was like, wow, this guy is a superstar. I wanna be that.”
Not everyone agrees with the choice. Daniel Cormier went on Junkies Radio and flat out warned Steveson that training with Jones was not a good idea and he didn’t want to see him across from him on the mat. But, that hasn’t phased Steveson.
What Comes Next
Before UFC 329, Steveson is also scheduled for a RAF wrestling match against Alexandr Romanov on May 30. After that, all eyes shift to Las Vegas and the biggest UFC debut in years. The talent is obvious. The wrestling pedigree is basically unmatched at heavyweight. And three first round finishes on the regional scene suggest the striking is coming along faster than most people expected. The only real question is whether Steveson can handle the jump to the UFC, where the margin for error disappears and heavyweight power changes fights in a second. Steveson doesn't sound like someone who is worried about any of that though. And neither does the man training him.
"He has the perfect formula to go all the way to the top and then some," Jones said.
