When asked about the struggling UFC heavyweight division, Ryan did not hold back.
“The heavyweight division in the UFC right now is absolute poverty. It’s terrible,” he stated bluntly.
The host followed up by asking if Ryan had ever felt tempted to compete in MMA himself, given his grappling prowess.
Ryan revealed he came close to making the transition.
“I was sparring a lot. I basically was learning MMA with John and the guys and sparring from late 2017 to early 2019 and I was going to start “
However, those plans changed when he tore his LCL competing against João Rocha in early 2019, requiring a full reconstruction just seven months before ADCC.
The conversation shifted to Steveson, the Olympic gold medalist wrestler now training under Greg Jackson alongside UFC champion Jon Jones. Ryan’s assessment of Steveson’s development was notably positive, despite an unimpressive start.
“I was there in New Mexico when Gable had never really done anything,” Ryan recalled. “When he was hitting pads, he looked the worst you could ever look hitting pads is how Gable looked. And the fact that he went from that to just knocking dudes out in these events in such a short amount of time is super impressive. So he obviously learns very well.”
Ryan emphasized Steveson’s physical attributes and wrestling credentials.
“Gable walks around at 285 lbs (129.3 kg). He’s super athletic”
“Obviously, his wrestling is very good.”
However, the grappling champion identified a key question mark for Steveson’s future success.
“What will be interesting for Gable, because Gable wasn’t really much of a ride time guy in college, like he didn’t really hold guys down from referee position,” Ryan noted.
“The question will be can he hold the guys down and actually do damage from top position. Can he make the shift from freestyle wrestling into MMA wrestling, which all the setups are different with punches and kicks obviously and then holding the guys down is different because there’s different rules and you can punch, there’s submission.”
Despite these uncertainties, Ryan expressed optimism about Steveson’s trajectory, citing his coaching situation.
“He’s working with Jon, he’s working with Greg. He’s got great coaches, great people around him. Greg’s team has a lot of good heavyweights there to play around with, a lot of just big bodies.”
However, Ryan cautioned against premature predictions.
“I’m always kind of a little bit shy about talking about how guys could be UFC champions before they’ve ever f0ught in the UFC because guys outside the UFC at the lower level versus guys in the UFC are completely different things. And then guys in the UFC versus guys who are in the top 10 or the top five are completely different things.”
Ryan concluded his assessment on a positive note:
“Gable’s looking incredible. He’s got everything going for him. I think it just comes down to how he integrates into the mix.”
