Cejudo On Steveson's Mental Block Since Gold

Henry Cejudo believes Gable Steveson is battling a mental block that began the moment he won Olympic gold.

Steveson captured freestyle wrestling gold for the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a thrilling victory over Geno Petriashvil. Since then, the 24-year-old has bounced from WWE to a training camp with the Buffalo Bills to the UFC, where he suffered a 12-second knockout loss to Sean Sharaf in his promotional debut earlier this month.

Cejudo Questions Steveson's Mental State

Speaking on Full Send MMA, the former two-division UFC champion said Steveson's talent remains intact but questioned his perspective after repeated setbacks. "There's something that's just unsettled there where he's just not finishing the job after the Olympics," Cejudo said, per MMA Junkie. "I know it's mental. Dude's a specimen, especially if he's disciplined. There's something that's not there since the Olympics, and he needs to figure that out."

Cejudo pointed to Steveson's string of unfinished ventures since Tokyo, including a second-place finish at the U.S. Nationals. He stressed the issue is not technical ability but something deeper that Steveson needs to identify.

The loss to Sharaf drew additional scrutiny when Steveson exited the Octagon before Bruce Buffer announced the official result. Sharaf had referenced past sexual assault allegations against Steveson during the prefight buildup, adding another layer of controversy to the debut.

Steveson has not announced his next move. The UFC has not confirmed whether he remains under contract following the defeat.

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• BJPenn — Gable Steveson dealing with mental block since winning gold medal, says Henry Cejudo: “He’s just not finishing the job after the Olympics”