Gable Steveson’s road to the UFC is taking a slight detour.
Earlier this month, the Olympic gold medalist established himself as a blue-chip prospect in the world of mixed martial arts with a first-round finish over Braden Peterson at LFA 217.
Now, Steveson is set to give Dirty Boxing a shot.
As announced via the promotion’s official Instagram account on Wednesday, the freestyle wrestling sensation will face Billy Swanson in the Dirty Boxing 4 headliner scheduled for Thursday, October 30, in Nashville.
In the years since his gold-medal-winning performance at the Tokyo Games in 2020, Steveson has pursued a variety of ventures, including short stints with the NFL and WWE.
With former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones in his corner, Steveson’s MMA debut couldn’t have gone any better. The Olympian secured a single takedown before pounding out a TKO victory less than two minutes into the contest.
Emerging from the bout unscathed, Steveson vowed to stay active.
“I had the biggest rush of my life putting on those gloves and getting that victory,” Steveson said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I want to keep it that way,” Steveson said. I want to stick to MMA. I want to take it one day at a time. I’m 1-0 right now.
“I would like to be 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, and just keep it going, and just believe in myself. You’ve got to focus on one thing, and I want to focus on this.”
