Chael Sonnen still believes in Gable Steveson.
Steveson was knocked out by Sean Sharaf in 12 seconds at UFC 331 in Los Angeles on September 19. It was one of the biggest upsets in recent UFC history.
Sonnen weighed in on Steveson’s future in a recent video. He said the Olympic gold medalist has impressed him from the start.
He won the Olympics, and transitioning to MMA, how long does that take? I have to tell you, I’ve been nothing but impressed by him.
He looked back on Steveson’s Dirty Boxing knockout.
I was impressed when he was over in bareknuckle and got a knockout, then he jumped over the ropes without ever touching him. That was amazing. Joe Rogan sends a text message to Dana White and says the whole division is effed. That’s what I saw. That’s what I still see.
Sonnen noted that Steveson has bounced back from big losses before. He was upset by Wyatt Hendrickson in the 2025 NCAA finals, with President Donald Trump in attendance.
It’s rare that this guy gets beaten at anything, but it’s not as though he hasn’t been beat. The one commonality is that he always gets up.
He also said the loss has made Steveson an even bigger draw.
Whatever Gable does next, very obviously, is going to be big. Whether you’re tuning in to see him succeed or fail, either way, we do understand that we’re going to be tuning in.
As a matter of fact, not only are we interested in Gable, we are at our height of interest in Gable. Whatever he does next, we’re going to be most interested in. But not one guy under contract has asked for that opportunity.
Sonnen also praised Jon Jones last week for taking the blame after he escorted Steveson out of the Octagon before Sharaf had his hand raised.
