Henry
Cejudo doesn't want wrestlers to rush their mixed martial arts
careers.

Gable
Steveson was a -2500 favorite going into his second
Ultimate Fighting Championship bout against Sean Sharaf
at UFC
331 on Sept. 19. Sharaf pulled off a historic upset by knocking
Steveson out in just 12 seconds and Cejudo believes there's a
lesson to be learned about managing an MMA career for credentialled
wrestlers like Bo
Nickal.

Cejudo says Steveson needs more time to develop after Sean
Sharaf's UFC 331 upset

Cejudo believes fellow Olympic gold medalist wrestler Steveson is
still too green for the UFC. The former two-division champ wants
Steveson to develop a well-rounded arsenal by focusing solely on
striking for a full year. “Triple C†also hopes collegiate
wrestling standout Nickal learns from Steveson's loss.

“You cannot hurry up in the game,†Cejudo said on the “Pound 4
Pound†podcast. “And I hope Bo Nickal can also see this sh*t. You
got to be able to respect the game, focus on mixed martial arts and
just do that. My next thing for Gable Steveson is, he needs to take
a whole f*cking year and just get better defensively. Because if he
is just gonna strike, then strike for one whole year. You're still
young; forget about doing anything with matches in grappling and
all this other stuff.â€

Steveson (4-1) had finished all four of his MMA fights in the first
round, including his UFC debut, before losing to Sharaf. Meanwhile,
Nickal (9-1) had just one pro MMA fight before earning two wins on

Dana White's Contender Series to secure a UFC contract in 2023.
Nickal went undefeated in his first four UFC outings before being
stopped by Reinier
de Ridder and has since rebounded with back-to-back stoppage
wins over Rodolfo
Vieira and Kyle
Daukaus.

Valter
Walker believes Gable
Steveson wasn't mentally present in his sophomore outing in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship, which ended in a historic
upset.

Steveson was a massive favorite going into his matchup against
Sean
Sharaf at UFC
331 on Sept. 19, but the latter needed just 12 seconds to
dispatch the Olympic gold medalist, uncorking a left hook to put
him to sleep. Fans turned on Steveson throughout fight week and
Walker claims it affected Steveson's performance.

Valter Walker believes pre-fight backlash affected Gable
Steveson before his 12-second loss to Sean Sharaf

Steveson suffered the first loss of his mixed martial arts career
against the relatively unknown Sharaf, who was 0-2 in the UFC prior
to the clash against the credentialed wrestler. Walker says
Steveson was mentally affected by the online backlash he faced
before the fight. The Olympian was relentlessly booed at both the
press conference and the weigh-ins, further fueled by Sharaf
repeatedly bringing up past controversies.

Steveson even lost a significant number of followers on social
media. Moreover, the comments sections under all posts online about
the heavyweight were flooded with fans sharing his mug shot and
referencing his sexual assault allegations from 2019. Walker claims
this must have had a negative impact on his mindset going into the
bout.

“A lot of guys post a lot of sh*t about him on the internet and he
lost a lot of followers,†Walker told Red Corner MMA. “People are
calling him a rapist. I think he lost maybe half a million
followers on Instagram. And I think that sh*t can really shake your
head before a fight. You know, UFC is very big pressure. I think
people really f*cked with him mentally. He went into the cage, but
mentally, he wasn't there.â€

😳 Valter
Walker says people online “mentally f*cked†Gable
Steveson, putting a lot of pressure on him before his
fight:

“People were really getting on him online. I think he lost maybe
half a million followers on Instagram.

And I think that shit can get into your head before a… pic.twitter.com/AbYTJVxqYs

— Full Mount MMA (@MMAFullMount)
September 21, 2026

Jon
Jones is standing by his protégé, Gable
Steveson.

Steveson took on Sean Sharaf
in his second
Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance at UFC
331 in Los Angeles on Sept. 19. Jones watched from Steveson's
corner as the latter was knocked out by Sharaf in 12 seconds in a
massive upset. Steveson later faced backlash for exiting the
Octagon, escorted by Jones, before Sharaf got his hand raised.

Jon Jones says he made the call to leave after Gable Steveson's
12-second knockout loss

Jones recently took the blame for Steveson's premature departure
from the Octagon. “Bones†claims it was the first time that he had
faced such a situation and instinctively wanted to take his friend
backstage to check on him.

“I've seen some reports online and I really wanted to clear the
air,†Jones posted on X. “It was my decision to take Gable straight
to the back after the fight. Honestly, it was the first time in
this situation for me and my instant reaction was to get my friend
to the back to make sure he was OK.â€

The former two-division champ is confident that Steveson with
return stronger and eventually emerge as one of the best
heavyweights.

“Gable's work ethic and will to win is there and I stand by him and
believe he will go on to be one of the best heavyweights in the
UFC. He will be back I'm sure of it.â€

I've seen some reports on line and I really
wanted to clear the air. It was my decision to take Gable straight
to the back after the fight. Honestly it was the first time in this
situation for me and my instant reaction was to get my friend to
the back to make sure he was ok.…

— Jonny Meat (@JonnyBones)
September 21, 2026