As Jon Jones prepares for his first defense of the undisputed UFC heavyweight title, ‘Bones’ is taking some time out of his busy schedule to help mold a future world champion.
18 months removed from a dominant first-round submission victory over Ciryl Gane, Jones returns to the Octagon on Saturday, November 16 for a high-stakes headliner with consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden.
It will be Jones’ first time defending the title and perhaps his final appearance inside the Octagon altogether, but that doesn’t mean Jones’ presence won’t live on through another potential MMA superstar.
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Jones’s coach Brandon Gibson revealed that ‘Bones’ has been working with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson.
“The sky is the limit for Gable, he’s a super athlete,” Gibson said of Steveson. “He walked on to the Buffalo Bills without ever playing football. Just in this past week, we’ve seen him in [the gym] boxing with mits, grappling, doing Jiu-Jitsu, ground-and-pound drills. He’s incredible, and I have no doubt that he could be a heavyweight champ.
“There’s a sense of pride I see in Jon Jones having some of these young greats come into the room, where Jon also wants to coach them and lift them up. Jon’s a heck of a teacher himself, so who knows? Maybe Jon Jones will be coaching Gable Steveson to UFC heavyweight glory one day” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Can Jon Jones help Steveson parlay his iconic wrestling career into a successful UFC run?
As a two-time NCAA Division I national champion and a three-time All-American out of the University of Minnesota, Steveson is one of the most accomplished freestyle wrestlers in the history of the sport.
Since hanging up his singlet, the Portage, Indiana native has struggled to find a new career. In 2021, Steveson signed with World Wrestling Entertainment becoming only the second Olympic gold medalist to be signed by the company after Kurt Angle. Steveson made sporadic appearances on television and in untelevised matches under the NXT banner but was ultimately released from his contract in May 2024.
That same month, Steveson signed a three-year deal with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills despite never having played the sport. He was released by the team three months later.
Now, it looks like Steveson has his sights set on mixed martial arts.