{"id":423691,"date":"2026-01-19T17:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T17:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423691\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T17:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T17:52:10","slug":"gable-steveson-books-next-fight-with-ufc-dreams-on-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/423691\/","title":{"rendered":"Gable Steveson books next fight with UFC dreams on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gable Steveson is set to take another big step toward signing the UFC.<\/p>\n

Steveson, a decorated collegiate wrestler and Olympic gold medalist, is one of the hottest heavyweight prospects in MMA right now. At 2-0, he is still new to the sport, but his elite wrestling skill makes him an immediate threat in the heavyweight division, and he\u2019ll only become more dangerous as he improves the other parts of his game.<\/p>\n

There is so much hype around him that he\u2019s already widely expected<\/a> to make it to the UFC soon, and perhaps even win the heavyweight belt there. However, he\u2019s still awaiting an offer for the promotion.<\/p>\n

Steveson look to strengthen his case for a UFC contract on Feb. 19.<\/p>\n

Gable Steveson next fight confirmed, UFC move next?<\/p>\n

On Feb. 19, Steveson will take on Hugo Lezama, as part of the Mexico Fight League 3 card in the city of Monterrey (via MMA Junkie<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It will be a tough test for for the wrestling star. Lezama has a solid record of 11-3, making him far more experienced in MMA than his American rival. He\u2019s finished five fights by knockout, and four by submission, so he seems to be well rounded too. He\u2019s also fought some decent opposition, notably former PFL star Emiliano Sordi, who he lost a decision to.<\/p>\n

Still, most will favor Steveson to come out on top. He was first round stoppages in both of his MMA fights to date. First stopped Braden Peterson via TKO. Next, he scored a one-punch KO over Kevin Hein, which took his hype to a new level. It was proof that his striking is already dangerous, even if it\u2019s not his main weapon. Of course, it\u2019s not surprising he\u2019s improving quickly given his obvious athletic gifts, and the training he\u2019s receiving from UFC legend Jon Jones.<\/p>\n

His future in MMA depends greatly on his fight with Lezama. If he loses, a move to the UFC will be off the table, at least for the foreseeable future. Even if he wins, he may not get an offer yet. But if he wins very impressively, it\u2019s totally possible he\u2019ll get an opportunity, most likely on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gable Steveson is set to take another big step toward signing the UFC. Steveson, a decorated collegiate wrestler…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-423691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}