JBL believes Gable Steveson faces a difficult road back after suffering his first professional MMA defeat at UFC 331.

The Olympic gold medallist was knocked out by Sean Sharaf just 12 seconds into their heavyweight bout on September 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Steveson entered as a heavy favourite at -2400, but a left hook ended his unbeaten run and left him with a 4-1 record.

Speaking with Conrad Thompson on the September 25 episode of Something To Wrestle, JBL questioned what comes next for Steveson following his attempts to establish himself in WWE, professional football and MMA.

“I don’t see how you bounce back. He’s done a lot of things. He came into wrestling. I saw him when he was there, and he just wasn’t great for WWE. Just didn’t quite have the knack of the working part of it, and the charisma part of it. Obviously he’s a terrific amateur wrestler,” JBL said. “I saw him out there with Shelton Benjamin, and Shelton did everything he could with him, but unfortunately I just don’t think our business was made for him.”

Steveson joined WWE in 2021 after winning heavyweight freestyle gold at the Tokyo Olympics. His only televised WWE match took place against Baron Corbin at NXT Great American Bash in 2023, before his release in May 2024.

He subsequently signed with the Buffalo Bills as a defensive tackle, although he was released before the regular season began. JBL argued that athletic ability alone cannot replace years of experience in a different sport.

“And then you saw him try to play some football, and those guys been playing their whole lives. It’s like, who cares if you’re a great athlete? You’re a great athlete. You’re not going to get into wrestling when you’re 25 years old. It’s like you’re not getting into football or anything else when you’re 25 years old. Guys grow up doing that stuff. There’s a reason that they’re on top of the world,” he said.

Discussing the knockout, JBL recalled Eddie Guerrero telling him it had been a mistake to attempt a leg dive on fellow Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle. He suggested Sharaf’s victory highlighted the importance of avoiding an opponent’s strongest skill.

“If you want to fight a wrestler, punch him. You fight a wrestler, you wrestle a puncher, and that’s what I think you learned right there. Maybe he can’t take a punch. I don’t know. Maybe he just walked into a right that would have knocked out a horse. I don’t know, but I don’t know where you go from here. To be that big of a favorite, it’s going to be tough to work your way back up,” JBL said.

Despite his doubts, JBL acknowledged that Steveson’s profile and ability to make fans root against him could help secure another opportunity.

“I don’t think he’s going to get a shot on the UFC main card. He may because of his name, and people want to see him get beat. He is being a heel. And people want to see him get beat, and he is going to draw some money and some interest to do that. So he may get another shot, but if he does, he better win, or that is going to be it,” JBL said.

Thompson also asked whether another knockout could affect Steveson’s appeal in Real American Freestyle. Steveson headlined RAF 09 in May, defeating Alexandr Romanov by a 10-0 technical fall.

JBL referenced former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko while discussing his belief that suffering a knockout can affect a fighter going forward.

“The problem is, once you get dropped once, you talk to any old boxing trainer, you talk to any old fighter, it’s kind of like once you get knocked out once, it’s easier to get knocked out the second time. Whatever it is in your body, I have no idea. But you talk to any fighters, they all believe that. I do too,” JBL said. “I think once you start getting dinged, it starts happening again and again, and I think he’s more susceptible to it now. But if he gets knocked out again or gets beat again, I just don’t think there’s, unfortunately, there’s just not going to be any drawing power there for him.”

However, he left the door open for Steveson to turn things around with a victory.

“Now if he wins, there’s maybe something he can do. He’s got a gift in some way of some charisma that people want to see him, basically want to see him lose. But so what? They want to see him. If he can win, he may have some legs with this. But if not, I think he’s done,” he said.

Steveson made clear in a September 22 statement that he intends to continue fighting, congratulating Sharaf without announcing a date for his return.

The statement also addressed a 2019 sexual assault allegation raised by Sharaf during fight week. Steveson denied the allegation and said he was never charged. According to Dice City Sports, prosecutors closed the matter after citing insufficient evidence.

Meanwhile, Steveson’s coach, former UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, took responsibility for his departure from the Octagon before the official result. Jones said on X that taking Steveson straight backstage had been his decision.