Despite him suffering a shocking upset KO loss to Sean Sharaf at UFC 331, UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen still believes in Gable Steveson.
As a -2500 favorite, Steveson’s loss to Sharaf was the biggest upset in UFC history based on the odds, and it’s a defeat that has many fans and analysts down on him, with many saying he is a fraud who won’t go far in the sport.
Sonnen, though, still believes in the former Olympic gold medalist wrestler, and thinks he still has the potential to go far in MMA.
Chael Sonnen Still Believes in Gable Steveson
On his YouTube channel, Sonnen explained why he still rates Steveson highly despite the shocking KO loss to Sharaf at UFC 331.
“He won the Olympics, and transitioning to MMA, how long does that take? I have to tell you, I’ve been nothing but impressed by him. I was impressed when he was over in bareknuckle and got a knockout, then he jumped over the ropes without ever touching him. That was amazing. Joe Rogan sends a text message to Dana White and says the whole division is effed. That’s what I saw. That’s what I still see. … It’s not as though he hasn’t dealt with losses before. It isn’t as though he hasn’t dealt with losses where a lot of people were watching. He was upset in the NCAA finals in front of the President of the United States, which aired on ESPN, which many say goes down as the largest upset in the history of the sport. Now, whether you want to go that far with it or not. It’s rare that this guy gets beaten at anything, but it’s not as though he hasn’t been beat. The one commonality is that he always gets up,” Sonnen said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Chael Sonnen Questions Critics
In Sonnen’s opinion, the downfall of Steveson is being overblown, and he believes that the media is being far too critical about him since he lost his fight against Sharaf.
“The downfall of Gable Steveson. Where do you go with that, guys? Are you hearing that? I mean, that is a narrative that is out there everywhere. This has been like a really rough week on Gable, and we had some meaningful members of the media say he does not belong in the UFC. Like, this is evidence; this is proof. He should not have been here. There was one media member that said he can beat guys in the UFC. I can see he can beat guys that are in the UFC, that belong in the UFC, but he does not belong here. Just because he can beat guys in the UFC does not mean that he should be in the UFC. Like, they actually made this argument. I’m going, ‘Hey, I’m kind of getting lost on your logic here,'” Sonnen said.
We’ll see where Steveson goes from here, but given his athletic gifts, it’s hard not to think that he’ll bounce back from Sharaf.
Chael Sonnen Still Believes in Gable Steveson’s UFC Potential