I’m not sure he gets to 10 fights

Longtime UFC commentator Jon Anik believes Gable Steveson’s 12-second knockout loss to Sean Sharaf could prove a major hurdle in his MMA career and even bring his UFC run to an early end.

During a recent interview with Submission Radio, Anik pointed out that Jon Jones, Daniel Cormier, and other elite names never suffered an upset quite like the one Steveson experienced against Sharaf:

“Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier never experienced any sort of loss like this as a mixed martial arts heavyweight. Ronda Rousey loses to Holly Holm, and it’s a little bit of a scenario in which you’re, like, walking back into your new life… But Gable is now having to deal with an experience that a lot of athletes on his level just haven’t had to deal with. It’s one thing if maybe he got knocked out late in this fight. This dude got flatlined and knocked out in 12 seconds.”

Anik believes that while Steveson would likely find success if given ten or more fights in the UFC, he doubts whether the Olympic gold medalist will get that opportunity:

“So, how do you regroup? I think he leans on everything, mentally, physically, and his God-given talent that has gotten him to this position. I still believe, as I said, if Gable Steveson gets to 10 UFC fights, he’s gonna realize a ton of success. But after his UFC debut, which went well, I went on our podcast, said over/under 10 UFC fights for Gable. I’m not sure he gets to 10 fights, and this is an appreciable setback.”

Check out Jon Anik’s comments on Gable Steveson below (11:55):

MMA coach believes Gable Steveson is trying to wrestle less in his fights

MMA coach Ray Longo believes heavyweight contender Gable Steveson may have strayed from his game plan against Sean Sharaf by choosing not to rely on his wrestling from the get-go.

Longo believes Steveson may have felt the UFC favored strikers over wrestlers and may have tried to force more stand-up exchanges to gain popularity. During a recent segment of the Anik & Florian podcast, Longo said:

“If he is very serious, I see the guy being able to make a comeback and being able to utilize his wrestling more. But look, the whole thing could play in with the UFC. They don’t want wrestling. They want striking. So maybe that was part of his thing: ‘Let me stand up a little extra and not go to my wrestling right away, because everybody’s saying just go to the wrestling.’ Maybe he is following what he thinks is the path to being more popular, and it took away from his game.” [2:39 mark of the podcast]