Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson is one of the best wrestlers on the planet, and he’s just challenged Nicky Rodriguez to a grappling match. He didn’t propose any specific ruleset that they might compete under, but considering that the challenge only came about as a result of Rodriguez’s absolute tournament win at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4, it seems likely that he was talking about a submission grappling match as opposed to a wrestling one.
While this kind of crossover match might seem far-fetched at first glance, it’s actually not all that difficult to put together. UFC Fight Pass Invitational would be the ideal promotion to make the match because Steveson is currently under contract with the WWE, who are now owned by the same parent company as the UFC. This means that a deal could definitely be done for Steveson to compete for the promotion, and Rodriguez is actually one of the most frequent faces to appear at UFC Fight Pass Invitational events.
This wouldn’t be the first time that an elite wrestler like Steveson has competed for the promotion either, as two-time NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young actually made his BJJ debut at the same event that Rodriguez won. That match was contested without leglocks being legal, so that’s one way that they could attempt to level the playing field once the match hits the ground. Steveson won’t need any assistance on the feet though, as he won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and has significantly more experience wrestling experience than Rodriguez.
Nicky Rodriguez shared the news that he won the absolute tournament at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 4 in a post to his official Instagram account and Gable Steveson quickly replied with the following comment:
“Me vs you next!!”
Not only did Rodriguez agree to the match, but he also immediately started promoting it as well:
