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Gable Steveson

Gable Steveson won Olympic gold and two NCAA titles, then tried WWE, the NFL, and the UFC. What each move paid and how his UFC 331 fight ended.

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Apple Valley and a Name Taken From Munich

Gable Steveson was born on May 31, 2000, and grew up in Apple Valley, Minnesota. CBS Minnesota reported that his mother named him after Gable, the American wrestler who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Minnesota Daily described his toughest high school opponent as Kerkvliet of Simley High School, a four-time state champion, whom Steveson beat 3-2 while wrestling for Apple Valley.

Two Heavyweight Titles for the Gophers

Steveson stayed home for college and wrestled heavyweight for the University of Minnesota. In 2019 he and a teammate were suspended from the team after a woman reported a sexual assault in June of that year. On December 20, 2019, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced that no charges would be filed, saying there was "inadequate evidence to fairly charge and prosecute this case." The university then lifted both suspensions, ESPN reported.

His 2021 season was unbeaten at 17-0. In the NCAA final he beat Michigan's Mason Parris 8-4, giving the Gophers their sixth heavyweight title. A year later, on March 19, 2022, in Detroit, he beat Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz 6-2 for a second title. He also won the Dan Hodge Trophy, the award for the best college wrestler, in 2021 and again in 2022. ESPN reported that he took 49 of 59 first-place votes the second time and was the first heavyweight to win it twice.

The Last Seconds in Tokyo

Between those two NCAA titles came the Tokyo Olympics. In the men's freestyle heavyweight final in August 2021 he faced Geno Petriashvili of Georgia and trailed 8-5 with less than 30 seconds left. He scored two takedowns, the second inside the final second, and won 10-8. CBS Sports noted that he was the first American heavyweight to win Olympic gold since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992.

WWE's First College NIL Contract

A month after Tokyo, on September 9, 2021, Steveson told ESPN he had signed a multiyear deal with WWE. It was a name, image, and likeness agreement, which let him return to Minnesota for his senior season and defend his NCAA title while still under contract. ESPN reported that WWE would build a remote training facility near campus for him and give him access to its Performance Center in Orlando.

He worked mostly on NXT, the company's developmental brand. WWE released him on May 3, 2024, during a round of cuts. F4W's Dave Meltzer said at the time that his "contract was a very big money contract, and he wasn't cutting it." WWE did not disclose the figure.

Defensive Tackle No. 61 in Buffalo

Within weeks he had a new sport. The Buffalo Bills signed him as an undrafted free agent at the end of May 2024 and listed him as a defensive tackle wearing No. 61. ESPN reported that he had never played football and that the first time he put on cleats was at a Bills workout. He signed the standard three-year rookie deal, which is not guaranteed unless a player makes the roster. To open a spot, Buffalo released the punter Matt Haack.

"I have been fortunate to compete at the highest level of competition in my sport but am looking forward to the challenge of seeing how my wrestling skills may translate to football," Steveson said in a statement released through his agent, Carter Chow.

Three Knockouts Before the UFC

Steveson turned to mixed martial arts in September 2025. He won his first three professional fights by first-round stoppage: Kevin Hein at Anthony Pettis FC 21 in November 2025, Hugo Lezama at MFL 3 in February 2026, and Braden Peterson at LFA 217. In May 2026 he also beat Alexandr Romanov in a wrestling match at RAF 9. He trained with Jon Jones, the former two-division UFC champion, as his mentor, and with Jones's longtime coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson.

"I measure success as a dominating victory," he told UFC.com before his debut.

UFC 329 and UFC 331

That debut came at UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 11, 2026, against Elisha Ellison, and Steveson finished him in about two minutes, Yahoo Sports reported. Two months later he fought Sean Sharaf, a retired U.S. Marine who was winless in his previous two UFC fights and a more than 10-to-1 underdog at several sportsbooks, at UFC 331 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on September 19, 2026. Sharaf knocked him out in 12 seconds, and Steveson's professional record fell to 4-1.

Before the fight he had said he wanted to fight like Daniel Cormier: "be a pressure fighter, just go after them; keep it moving and keep the guys on edge."

What His Contracts Disclose

This article does not give a net worth figure, because the inputs needed to build one are not public. WWE did not disclose the value of his contract. The Bills described only a standard undrafted rookie deal, and no figure for it was published by a team or a major outlet. The one amount on the record is his UFC 331 purse. The California State Athletic Commission disclosure, as reported by Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports, shows that Steveson was paid $160,000 for the fight against Sharaf, one of the larger amounts on the card for a losing fighter.

Sources

Filed Under Topics

#Sports#Wrestling#UFC#Olympics#WWE

Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin was fired by the Raiders and USC, rebuilt his name under Nick Saban, and left Ole Miss for a seven-year, $91 million deal at LSU.

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Apple Valley and a Name Taken From Munich

Two Heavyweight Titles for the Gophers

The Last Seconds in Tokyo

WWE's First College NIL Contract

Defensive Tackle No. 61 in Buffalo

Three Knockouts Before the UFC

UFC 329 and UFC 331

What His Contracts Disclose

Sources

Filed Under Topics

Related Life Stories & Dossiers

Lane Kiffin