Elite wrestler Gable Steveson has a very busy few weeks ahead of him, as he’ll now be making his professional MMA debut at LFA 217 on September 12th, 2025. He’s skipping straight past the amateur ranks and for very good reason, as it would be very tough to find anyone willing to face him. Instead his first time in the cage will be against Braden Peterson, a 37 year-old heavyweight who already has a few fights under his belt. He went 4-1 as an amateur in the space of 4 months earlier this year, before winning his professional debut by knockout in just 14 seconds last month.
Although Peterson might have the advantage in competitive MMA experience, Steveson has competed at the highest level of combat sports for several years. He’s a two-time NCAA Division I champion and won a gold medal in Freestyle wrestling at the 2020 Olympics, so he’s already got more experience on the mats than most MMA fighters will ever have. Although this fight is coming on just a few weeks’ notice, it’s not as if he’s jumped into MMA without proper preparation either. Steveson has been talking about making the transition for several years now and has continued working on his other skills even without a fight booked.
The main surprise is that Steveson has booked his first fight so quickly after trying out another new sport for the first time too. He’s currently preparing for his first ever submission grappling match as the main event for CJI 2, where he will be facing Craig Jones himself. That’s a huge challenge in itself and and most competitors would want to take some time off after a match as tough as that, but Steveson will now be right back to work to prepare for this fight. He’s still just 25 years old too so he has plenty of time ahead of him to build on either a submission grappling or MMA career once the next few weeks are over.
LFA announced the news that Gable Steveson would be making his MMA debut at LFA 217 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
