Jon Jones Says He Made the Call To Get Gable Steveson Out of the Cage at UFC 331

Jon Jones has finally addressed Gable Steveson’s sudden exit from the Octagon after his devastating loss at UFC 331.

Steveson suffered the first loss of his professional MMA career on Saturday night in Los Angeles. The former Olympic gold medalist faced Sean Sharaf in just his second UFC fight. However, the highly anticipated heavyweight match lasted only 12 seconds.

Sharaf landed a clean left hand that immediately knocked Steveson out cold, and after waking up, he immediately left the Octagon. His decision got a hostile reaction from the crowd and fans online. Fighters are expected to stay inside the Octagon when the result is announced, and Stevenson’s departure did not go well.

However, Jones has now explained that Steveson did not make the decision to leave on his own.

Jones, who served as one of Steveson’s cornermen for the fight, said that his main concern was making sure his friend was okay after the brutal knockout.

“I’ve seen some reports on line and I really wanted to clear the air. It was my decision to take Gable straight to the back after the fight. Honestly it was the first time in this situation for me and my instant reaction was to get my friend to the back to make sure he was ok. Gable’s work ethic and will to win is there and I stand by him and believe he will go on to be one of the best heavyweights in the ufc. He will be back I’m sure of it,” Jones tweeted.

The loss ended an impressive start to Steveson’s MMA career. He entered UFC 331 with a 4-0 record and had finished all four of his previous opponents in the first round.

Steveson’s path to the UFC has been a bit unusual. Before starting his MMA career, the former Olympic wrestling champion was once seen as a major potential star for WWE.

After winning the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, WWE signed Steveson in September 2021. It was the company’s first-ever NIL deal with an active college athlete. WWE had high hopes for the decorated amateur wrestler and even assigned him to the RAW brand before he had officially competed in a WWE match.

Steveson made an appearance at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. He performed an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Chad Gable.

However, his move into pro wrestling never really took off. WWE later moved him to NXT, where he made his televised in-ring debut against Baron Corbin at NXT Great American Bash in July 2023. The match ended in a double count-out.

Steveson was released by WWE in May 2024. He later admitted that he had been trying to balance his amateur wrestling background with pro wrestling and was not fully committed to the latter.

After a short attempt to pursue a career in the NFL, Steveson eventually turned his attention to MMA.

The post Jon Jones Says He Made the Call To Get Gable Steveson Out of the Cage at UFC 331 appeared first on Wrestlezone.