Gable Steveson is walking into his UFC debut with the heavyweight prospect conversation already following him.
The Olympic gold medalist faces Elisha Ellison on the UFC 329 prelims, but Josh Hokit has become part of the week anyway. Hokit has been loud about his own heavyweight ceiling, and Steveson did not sound interested in letting the comparison breathe for long.
Steveson is 3-0 in professional MMA, but the bigger selling point is still the wrestling base he brings with him. He won Olympic freestyle gold, claimed two NCAA heavyweight titles, and recently added more combat-sports momentum when he beat Alexandr Romanov by 10-0 technical fall at RAF 9. That is why any Hokit comparison was always going to touch the wrestling side first.
Watch Steveson’s comments below:
Gable Steveson did NOT hold back on Josh Hokit 😳 pic.twitter.com/WQB1nANjbR
— Jon-Bernard Kairouz (@jonbernardk) July 11, 2026
Steveson Draws A Line Between Himself And Hokit
Steveson said he knows of Hokit through wrestling circles and the shared Albuquerque training scene, but he pushed back on the idea that they were ever close to the same lane on the mat.
“I’ve never seen him in a bracket that I was in. I never met him. I never wrestled him.”
He then used Bo Nickal as the sharper measuring stick. Hokit was pinned by Nickal in college wrestling, and Steveson brought that up before making the comparison even more direct.
“Bo Nickal cannot pin me. You know what I would do to Bo Nickal in a wrestling match? I would beat Bo Nickal 10-0 in under a minute.”
The line that will travel furthest was the simplest one. Steveson was not just saying he had the better amateur background. He said the separation carries into fighting too.
“When you mention wrestling, he’s not on the same level as me. When you mention fighting, it’s the same thing.”
Hokit Keeps Heavyweight Door Closed For Now
The weight-class part is what keeps this from being empty prospect noise. Steveson had floated the idea that Hokit might eventually fit better at 205 pounds. Hokit answered publicly that he is staying at heavyweight unless a future double-champ opportunity changes the math.
I will not be going down to 205 UNLESS it’s for double champ status! Until then, I’m here to prove that I am the baddest man on the planet and you can only acquire that status by having the Heavyweight World Title!🏆
— The Incredible Hok (@Josh_HokitUFC) July 10, 2026
Hokit has already made himself one of the louder names among the UFC’s newer heavyweights, and the matchup has been floated before. Daniel Cormier even called Hokit vs. Steveson a future heavyweight title-level fight, which gives the exchange more bite than ordinary fight-week talk.
For now, Steveson has the first assignment. Ellison gets him on the prelims before the full UFC 329 card builds toward Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway 2. If Steveson looks as sharp in the cage as he sounds on the microphone, the Hokit question will not disappear. It will probably become the next heavyweight prospect argument the UFC has to decide whether to use or ignore.
