UFC commentator Daniel Cormier said he is still confident in heavyweight Gable Steveson’s MMA aspirations despite his recent loss.
Despite being a historic -2500 betting favorite, Steveson was knocked out by Sean Sharaf in just 12 seconds on the UFC 331 main card, a shocking loss that has many fans and analysts down on the former Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling now.
For Cormier, a fellow wrestler, however, he still believes in Steveson’s potential and isn’t ready to quit on him despite suffering such a bad loss.
Daniel Cormier Won’t Quit on Gable Steveson
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Cormier said that he won’t quit on Steveson.
“To think that that result determines what his career looks like going forward, to me, that just seems so unfair and such a rush to judgment. Right now is the time for Gable to try to have that reset. He’s got to reset. He’s got to reset his mind. He’s got to reset his approach because here’s the thing that’s going to be hard for Gable Steveson. He was at the very top of wrestling. There is nowhere you can go higher than Olympic champion,” Cormier said (via MMAjunkie.com).
“Josh Hokit was a wrestler, also. They started doing this around the same time, and Josh Hokit is fighting for the heavyweight championship. But Josh Hokit did not make the mistakes that Gable Steveson did in his earlier fights. Honestly, Josh Hokit ran to the fights. He’s fought more, but he ran toward the fight. I think this was a massive learning lesson for Gable. … I believe Gable Steveson is going to be OK. I really do. I really do. He’s an amateur, he’s young, but his time will come.”
Jon Jones Rivalry Doesn’t Affect Daniel Cormier’s Love of Gable Steveson
Although Steveson trains with UFC legend Jon Jones, who is Cormier’s arch enemy and longtime rival in the sport, Cormier said that doesn’t matter to him whatsoever and that he will always back Steveson because their friendship runs deep and has nothing to do with Jones.
“I saw a lot of, ‘Anything doing with Jon, Daniel hates, even Gable.’ I love Gable. I actually spoke to Gable on Sunday morning, after it happened. I don’t hate Gable Steveson. I think Gable, the world of. He’s an Olympic champion in the sport that I love. I watched him accomplish great things,” Cormier said.
Given that Steveson is still only 26 years old, he has plenty of time to get back to the drawing board and work on the issues in his game that caused him to lose to Sharaf.
His porous striking defense left him wide open against Sharaf, and that’s the No. 1 thing that Steveson needs to clean up for his next fight. If he can do that, then he can still reach his potential in MMA, which is to be a UFC champion one day.
But he needs to get back to his wrestling roots and wrestle early and often instead of standing and banging.
Daniel Cormier Still Confident in Gable Steveson Despite KO Loss