Gable Steveson is speaking out after the roughest night of his MMA career — and he’s addressing a whole lot more than the 12 seconds it took for Sean Sharaf to knock him out at UFC 331.
The former WWE talent suffered his first professional MMA loss when Sharaf stopped him just 12 seconds into their heavyweight fight. The defeat ended Steveson’s unbeaten start in MMA, but the buildup to the fight also became personal after Sharaf publicly brought up allegations involving Steveson from his college years in 2019.
Steveson was investigated at the time but was not criminally charged, with prosecutors citing insufficient evidence. On Tuesday, Steveson said he believes Sharaf raised the issue to get inside his head before they fought.
“Prior to and during fight week, an incident from my college years was brought up by my opponent. I believe it was raised to get in my head, but it also reopened something that had been addressed years ago.”
Steveson then directly denied the allegations and pointed to the fact that he was never charged.
“I want to be clear: I did not do anything alleged. I was never charged with a crime, and the matter was ultimately dropped by the district attorney.”
Steveson said the situation was not simply ignored and stressed that he cooperated with law enforcement while the matter also went through a separate Title IX review.
“The allegations were not ignored nor brushed aside. They were thoroughly and heavily reviewed as I fully cooperated with law enforcement, including a separate Title IX review.”
He continued by pointing out that there was no criminal conviction or finding of responsibility against him and said there is no active legal matter involving him.
“There were no criminal charges, no conviction, and no finding of responsibility against me. The matter was closed, and there is no pending legal issue involving me.”
Steveson also acknowledged how serious allegations of that nature are and said he understands why people may have questions when the subject comes back up years later.
“I understand how serious allegations like this are, and I understand that people may have questions when they hear only part of a story. Moving forward, I am going to keep focusing on my wife, my daughter, my family, and the work in front of me.”
Then Steveson turned back to what happened inside the cage. There was no excuse-making over the knockout either, as he gave Sharaf credit for capitalizing on his mistake.
“As for my opponent, congratulations. You caught me. A mistake on my end was made. It was your night.”
Steveson isn’t treating the loss like the end of anything. He compared the setback to defeats from his amateur wrestling career and said those losses eventually pushed him to become even more focused.
“Just like my wrestling days after my loss, I came back with an undeniable will to win and focus that led me to the top of my sport. The result of Saturday night, I believe, will catapult me to do the same.”
“I will be great, and this won’t deny me.”
Getting flattened in 12 seconds is about as brutal as MMA lessons get, but Steveson clearly isn’t planning to disappear after UFC 331. He’s owning the mistake inside the cage, rejecting the allegations brought back into the conversation before the fight, and already framing the loss as fuel for whatever comes next.
What do you think about Gable Steveson’s statement after his UFC 331 loss and everything that surrounded the fight? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know what you think.
