{"id":798061,"date":"2026-07-13T00:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T00:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/798061\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T00:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T00:22:09","slug":"ufc-329-rookie-report-card-gable-steveson-shines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/798061\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC 329 Rookie Report Card: Gable Steveson Shines"},"content":{"rendered":"

You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!<\/p>\n

Two rookies stepped into the Octagon last night (Sat., July 11, 2026) at UFC 329<\/a> inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Collectively, the newcomers went 1-1, with one of them scoring a nasty knockout to kick off his UFC career in style<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now that the dust has settled, let\u2019s grade their respective performances below:<\/p>\n

\"LAS<\/a><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 11: Gable Steveson reacts to his win in a heavyweight fight during the UFC 329 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 11, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

At long last, Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA Division I Heavyweight champion Gable Steveson made his highly anticipated UFC debut.<\/p>\n

Steveson came out of the gate swinging heavy hooks and power punches, clearly looking to make a violent first impression. A low blow briefly stalled the action, but once the fight resumed, the Olympian started mixing in body kicks that really seemed to hurt Elisha Ellison.<\/p>\n

From there, Steveson put Ellison against the fence and unloaded with punches, knees and more pressure until he eventually put Ellison down for a first-round knockout (watch highlights)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was wild. It was sloppy. It was also exactly the kind of UFC debut Steveson needed.<\/p>\n

No, it was not technically perfect, and no, we did not see much of the elite wrestling that made him famous. In fact, Steveson used basically zero wrestling, which makes you wonder if he has already fallen in love with knocking people out.<\/p>\n

Still, the hype is only going to get louder after this one.<\/p>\n

Steveson could probably already compete with several Heavyweights in the Top 15, but there is no need to rush him. For his second UFC outing, I would like to see him against someone just outside the rankings \u2014 someone dangerous, experienced and flawed.<\/p>\n

Give me Steveson vs. Ryan Spann.<\/p>\n

\"LAS<\/a><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 10: John Garza poses on the scale during the UFC 329 official weigh-in at T-Mobile Arena on July 10, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

John Garza, a Fury FC veteran, stepped up on one week\u2019s notice to take on undefeated Farid Basharat on the UFC 329 Prelims.<\/p>\n

That is a brutal debut assignment.<\/p>\n

Basharat started fast, chopping at Garza\u2019s legs with calf kicks while Garza tried to answer with quick, crisp boxing. Basharat eventually landed a nice takedown and took Garza\u2019s back, but Garza was able to reverse and work back to his feet.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Garza, Basharat kept the pressure on.<\/p>\n

The undefeated prospect took him down again, and once they returned to the feet, Basharat started styling with spinning backfists, head kicks and straight rights to close the round strong.<\/p>\n

Garza came out aggressive in Round 2 and started unloading in the clinch, but Basharat created space and went right back to picking him apart with slick, technical striking. Garza did defend a pair of takedowns, and toward the end of the round, he started landing his trademark body shots, which appeared to get Basharat\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

In Round 3, Garza came out hunting.<\/p>\n

He pushed forward, stuffed several takedowns and tried to turn the fight into a dogfight. However, by the final 64 seconds, Garza\u2019s calf was basically toast, and Basharat was able to seal the deal.<\/p>\n

Basharat ultimately won by unanimous decision.<\/p>\n

While I do think UFC may have signed Garza a little early, he showed real toughness, aggression and flashes of potential against a very technical undefeated fighter. He is young, fun and willing to bite down on his mouthpiece, which will play well against lower-level competition.<\/p>\n

And if that ends up being his ceiling, so what?<\/p>\n

Garza is the kind of fighter who can make a lot of fans \u2014 and a lot of \u201cFight of the Night\u201d bonus money \u2014 if matched correctly.<\/p>\n

For his second UFC outing, give me Garza vs. Timmy Cuamba.<\/p>\n

For more UFC 329 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut! Two rookies stepped into the Octagon last night (Sat.,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,33601,638,27983,82,241021,139445,7788],"class_list":["post-798061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-mma-prospects","tag-sports","tag-ufc-329","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-ufc-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}