HenryCejudo doesn’t want wrestlers to rush their mixed martial artscareers.
GableSteveson was a -2500 favorite going into his second Ultimate Fighting Championship bout against Sean Sharafat UFC331 on Sept. 19. Sharaf pulled off a historic upset by knockingSteveson out in just 12 seconds and Cejudo believes there’s alesson to be learned about managing an MMA career for credentialledwrestlers like BoNickal.
Cejudo says Steveson needs more time to develop after SeanSharaf’s UFC 331 upset
Cejudo believes fellow Olympic gold medalist wrestler Steveson isstill too green for the UFC. The former two-division champ wantsSteveson to develop a well-rounded arsenal by focusing solely onstriking for a full year. “Triple C” also hopes collegiatewrestling standout Nickal learns from Steveson’s loss.
“You cannot hurry up in the game,” Cejudo said on the “Pound 4Pound” podcast. “And I hope Bo Nickal can also see this sh*t. Yougot to be able to respect the game, focus on mixed martial arts andjust do that. My next thing for Gable Steveson is, he needs to takea whole f*cking year and just get better defensively. Because if heis just gonna strike, then strike for one whole year. You’re stillyoung; forget about doing anything with matches in grappling andall this other stuff.”
Steveson (4-1) had finished all four of his MMA fights in the firstround, including his UFC debut, before losing to Sharaf. Meanwhile,Nickal (9-1) had just one pro MMA fight before earning two wins onDana White’s Contender Series to secure a UFC contract in 2023.Nickal went undefeated in his first four UFC outings before beingstopped by Reinierde Ridder and has since rebounded with back-to-back stoppagewins over RodolfoVieira and KyleDaukaus.
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