Joe Rogan is on the Sean Sharaf bandwagon after the underdog heavyweight knocked Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson out in the first round of their UFC 331 fight.
Steveson was a -3000 favorite against +1000 underdog Sharaf coming into Los Angeles, but Sharaf paid no mind to the odds. He came out hard and clocked the two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion, knocking him out cold in 12 seconds. Now all the hype around Steveson has disappeared and boosters like Rogan are re-evaluating whether Gable
will ever be great in MMA.
In a new episode of the Joe Rogan podcast with Sharaf as a guest, Rogan pondered whether having Jon Jones in his corner had Steveson thinking he was invincible.
“That’s the problem, you’re hanging out with a guy who’s the GOAT and you start thinking you’re the next guy,” Rogan said. “You might be. You could be, if you do the right things. But if you believe it before it happens? You have to be cautious but also confident. There’s this dance of the mind. There’s so much going on to be an elite fighter.”
Rogan gave credit to Sharaf for reminding the world that anything can happen in MMA … not that this hasn’t been a consistent thread through a 2026 marked by massive upsets.
“What you did elevated the whole sport,” Rogan told Sharaf. “Because when you see a guy that’s a giant favorite, and I thought this guy had the potential to be an all-time great. He’s an Olympic gold medalist, and we’ve seen that before. Get a guy who’s an elite wrestler like Daniel Cormier, there’s a lot of examples of elite wrestlers who become all-time greats. You changed everything with one punch.”
Now people are questioning whether Steveson will rise to the challenge or slink off like he did in the NFL and WWE. One thing is for sure: opponents won’t be distracted by the aura of his wrestling credentials any more, or having the MMA GOAT in his corner. Steveson will have to claw his way to the top on athletic ability and skill alone.
