Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in talks with Bellator MMA

Fresh off his gold medal winning performance in the 125 kg freestyle wrestling category at the Tokyo Olympics Gable Steveson is now looking for a new challenge in sports/sports-entertainment.

The American has been active on social media lately trying to draw the attention of both the UFC’s Dana White and the WWE’s Vince McMahon.

However, according to Scott Coker, Bellator MMA might have stolen a march on those rivals. During the post-fight press conference for Bellator 264 Coker was asked about Steveson by Sherdog’s Keith Shillan. He revealed that talks between his organization and the Olympian are ongoing.

“I can tell you this, that we’ve already been in touch with his management,” he said (ht MMA Junkie). “I do know that he has a couple years left of school and wants to go back and wrestle. There’s dialogue going on, but he really wants to wrestle right now. If he wants to come to MMA, we’ve love to have him here. Nobody builds athletes from wrestling or ground up like we do. I think we’re the best at it. I think we’d be a great home for him.”

Steveson, who turned 21 earlier this year, wrestled at the University of Minnesota between 2018 and 2021. During that span he was a NCAA Division I National Champion, two-time Big Ten Conference champion, two-time All American and a Dan Hodge Trophy recipient.

After college he won gold at the 2021 Pan American Championships and then ran through the competition at the Tokyo Olympics. He won his first three matches, one of which was against defending Olympic champion Taha Akgul, with perfect scores to advance to the finals. In the finals he beat reigning World Champion Geno Petriashvili with a score of 10-8.

Right now it’s a mystery as to whether Steveson will transition from amateur wrestling to mixed martial arts or pro wrestling. However, when making this decision Steveson has a pretty good confidante he can go to. Check out the video below to see him working out with fellow Golden Gopher Brock Lesnar, a former top draw in both the UFC and WWE.