Another former Olympic champion will be joining the professional MMA world, as Gable Steveson is set to make his debut in the sport next month.
Steveson, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, will be featured in the co-main event of lfa-217" class="tag-link">LFA 217 on September 12, taking on Braden Peterson.
The MMA fight will also come just a couple of weeks following Steveson's scheduled submission grappling debut. Steveson will compete against Craig Jones at the Craig Jones Invitational 2 on August 31.
Gable Steveson To Make Professional MMA Debut At LFA 217
Competing in wrestling for nearly all of his life, Steveson, who competed for the University of Minnesota, is perhaps one of the best NCAA wrestlers in modern history. He was a five-time NCAA Division-I All-American, a two-time national champion, a four-time Big Ten conference champion, and a two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner.
Steveson fell short of capturing the 2025 NCAA heavyweight national title this past March, falling short in the final seconds of his bout with Wyatt Hendrickson. The bout, the last of Steveson's NCAA career, snapped a 70-bout win streak.
In addition to his freestyle wrestling Olympic gold and NCAA success, Steveson was a 2021 Pan-American champion, a 2017 U20 world champion, and a 2015 and 2016 U17 world champion.
Steveson's career, however, was briefly halted in 2019 when he and a teammate were arrested and suspended from all team activities at Minnesota following accusations of sexual assault. Criminal charges were dropped at the end of the year due to a lack of evidence.
Steveson also halted his NCAA senior season after signing an NIL (Next In-Line) deal with the WWE in 2021, becoming the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the WWE, following 1996 Olympic gold winner Kurt Angle. Steveson's appearances, however, were sporadic and he would be released in 2024.
Not long after his WWE release, Steveson, despite never playing football before, tried to make the roster of the NFL's Buffalo Bills. He would be released following the 2024 pre-season.
Peterson, Stevenson's opponent, went 4-1 on the amateur MMA circuit this year, picking up an amateur super heavyweight title in the process. Peterson made his professional MMA debut in July, scoring a 14-second finish of Chris Thompson.