Gable Steveson is heading to the Dirty Boxing ring, and while that announcement seemed to surprise a lot of the combat sports community, the Olympic gold medalist jumped right into the opportunity.
The
highly-credentialed wrestler recently made his long-awaited MMA debut at LFA 217 in September, picking up an emphatic 98-second stoppage win over Braden Peterson. After taking that first step towards a likely UFC run, the 25-year-old is now set to headline DBX 4 this Thursday in Nashville against Bellator veteran Billy Swanson.
Despite putting on an impressive showing in the cage, Steveson wasn’t completely satisfied with the victory, and wants to show more.
“Of course, there’s so many places that I want to get better in, and that’s why I signed up for DBX 4, just because I want to answer those questions,” Steveson told MMA Fighting. “You saw a fast takedown. You saw ground and pound, you saw elbows, and how about [now] let’s put it on the feet? Let’s put the hands on the feet. Let’s put the elbows on the feet. Let’s have this guy fall in a round and get on top of him and take care of business.
“So that’s a question that needs to be answered, and I’m ready to answer that question, and I would not sign up for Dirty Boxing for if I was not ready. And if my coach, which some people know his name, Jon Jones, says, I’m ready, we’re ready to take on that challenge. So Oct. 30, man, we’re going to show the world that that I can stand on the feet and I can be that guy, and I can’t take a guy down and I can be the guy up on the feet and do both, and so that’s why I’m so excited about this.”
Most expected Steveson to return to the LFA cage in quick order to keep his MMA chops sharp, but that’s not the next stop on the journey. The custom ruleset that doesn’t allow takedowns — and now penalizes stalling in the clinch — is certainly something new for Steveson based on his incredible wrestling background.
Steveson was asked if he would’ve believed his next fight would be for Dirty Boxing after his quick win for LFA.
“Probably not, but if you was me and you saw it the way I saw it, I think it’s a great, great opportunity to show the world that we need to answer questions,” Steveson explained. “I don’t want to go into fights having people not know that I can’t be complete and that I can’t go out there and be the guy that I want to be. And like we talked about, [they saw] take down, ground and pound, and now they’re going to see a great performance from me standing up and, and just getting busy. …
“I don’t want you to clinch me. I want to go out there and we’re going to stand face to face, and I want to look into your eyes and let you know that I’m coming for you; and that’s the best thing about this. I think that’s the real reason why I wanted to come out to Dirty Boxing on Oct. 30 in Nashville, to go out there and show everybody… and be like, ‘Hey, can this question be answered?’ And it most definitely can be answered because I got all the answers to the test before I even go out there.”
Swanson has experience competing for Bellator, PFL, and BKFC, and is a former Alabama Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. However, the 31-year-old has gone over four years without picking up a victory in combat sports.
While Swanson would love to shock the world this Thursday, Steveson plans to spoil that idea in eye-opening fashion.
“I think on Oct. 31, which is a Friday, I’ll be back home and I’ll be reading headlines saying that Gable Steveson can strike, Gable Steveson can be that guy that can compete at the highest level of heavyweight, and Gable Steveson made us believe in him — on his feet, on the ground, and everywhere else,” Steveson said. And Oct. 30, man, you’re going to see. I’m excited to show it.“
