A two-time NCAA Division I national champion and four-time Big Ten champion who won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in freestyle wrestling, Stevenson initially joined World Wrestling Entertainment. After that didn’t work out, the University of Minnesota product, who had never even played high school ball, signed with Buffalo in May 2024 as a defensive lineman.
“I think about a couple of things, one of which is I’m a big believer in wrestlers and what skills you develop in wrestling and how you can develop that into a really good football player, especially among the offensive and defensive line position groups,” then-Bills head coach Sean McDermott said after seeing Steveson. “The fact that I never played football – not even in high school – is a little different. It’s a little unique, so there’s more work to be done, starting from scratch, from scratch, and then trying to build every day.”
Steveson’s first football game was actually the Bills’ 2024 preseason opener, a game in which he played tackle and pressured a QB in 14 snaps. His NFL career would total three preseason games, three tackles and two QB hits.
However, it left an impression. One that went to his new head coach Greg Jackson, one of the most celebrated trainers in MMA history who has trained past UFC champions such as Rashad Evans, Carlos Condit, Holly Holm, Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones.
“I think if you’re a fan, you need to tune in to see what this guy can do,” Jackson said on air. UFC built-in. “I mean, he already won an Olympic gold medal in heavyweight wrestling. It’s so hard to do, I can’t even tell you. Where’s the ceiling? What can he achieve? What can he do? I’m telling you right now, I’ve worked with most of the greatest fighters to ever play the game and his athletic ability is unparalleled. The way he thinks about things, how smart he is, how trainable he is. You need to tune in now to see where the ceiling is for this guy because he could redefine what this sport is.”
Jones, whose brother Chandler and late brother Arthur played in the NFL, has been heavily involved in Steveson’s career, which takes its next and most important step Saturday.
The odds were good that Steveson would end up with the Bills. However, when Steveson (3-0) faces Ellison (5-2) on Saturday, the 26-year-old will be the clear favorite.
Steveson doesn’t shy away from the hype and pressure, embracing it in a way that perhaps only a generational athlete who owns a gold medal in wrestling and once decided to try out as an NFL player with zero previous experience can. In his three previous MMA fights, Steveson had won the first round by stoppage, spending a total of just 5 minutes and 52 seconds of time in the cage.
“This will be the show I want,” he said. “This will be the Gable Steveson show. When I go out there, I hope everyone wants to tune in and see a brutal victory and a dominant performance from me.”
At this point, he may still have more preseason playing time with the Bills on his resume than action time. This will change eventually. For now, however, one of the greatest American wrestlers to ever grace the mat is poised to take the UFC by storm, roughly two years after he prepared for training camp in Western New York.
“I’ve been doing big shows my whole life,” Steveson said. “To me it’s just another day.”