Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson made a winning return to competition, defeating Alexander Romanov by technical fall in the RAF 09 main event in Arlington, Texas.
The bout marked Steveson’s first action since his upset loss at the 2025 NCAA national championships, and it came just weeks before his scheduled UFC debut against Elisha Ellison at UFC 329 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"I think this was a big opportunity for me to come back to wrestling and kind of build into something bigger," Steveson said after the win. He added that the RAF 09 performance is part of his preparation for July 11: "But right now I'm focused on my fight on July 11. This was a stepping stone. I trained really hard for this. Whether my opponent gave up or whether he was going to wrestle me for the full six minutes, I was ready for anything. This is just another day for me to go out there and compete. I would love to keep wrestling after this, and I most definitely will."
Steveson is listed by FanDuel as a -2500 favorite over Ellison, who enters the matchup with a 5-3 MMA record and 0-1 mark in the UFC.
Looking beyond UFC 329, Steveson expressed interest in balancing both sports: "I would love to wrestle in the Olympics in 2028. I would love to wrestle in 2027 in Las Vegas, but it's going to be a time thing with the UFC and how things line up if that opening exists." According to the event details, Steveson plans to continue competing in wrestling while focusing on his UFC career.
