Gable Steveson is joining Real American Freestyle.
MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin confirmed with Steveson’s management that the Olympic gold medalist and budding MMA prospect has signed a multi-match deal with the wrestling promotion and is set to make his debut at RAF 9 in Dallas. An opponent for Steveson is still to be determined.
The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.
See RAF’s official announcement below.
Steveson, a two-time national champion and an Olympic champion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,
is the brightest heavyweight prospect in combat sports. The 25-year-old tried his hand at the NFL and WWE before turning to pro fighting in 2025, where he is yet to be defeated. Steveson won his MMA debut this past September with a first-round knockout of Braden Peterson, then followed that up with a Dirty Boxing win over Billy Swanson, before he scored two more wins under MMA rules.
None of Steveson’s opponents have made it past the four-minute mark of the opening round.
Much has been made of Steveson eventually making his way to the UFC, especially with the promotion’s heavyweight roster currently lacking intriguing young talent. Steveson is locked into RAF for now, but his involvement likely does not preclude him from stepping into the octagon at a later date, as the promotion has already features several active UFC fighters, including Arman Tsarukyan, Michael Chandler, and Colby Covington—with recent bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili set to compete at RAF 8—as well as veteran stars like Henry Cejudo, Luke Rockhold, and Urijah Faber.
