Joe Rogan: Jon Jones Training May Have Affected Gable Steveson's UFC 331 Loss

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Joe Rogan, a UFC analyst, thinks Gable Steveson’s training with Jon Jones might have hurt his performance at UFC 331.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson lost unexpectedly via knockout to Sean Sharaf at UFC 331. This marked the first defeat in Steveson’s fighting career, following a successful UFC debut. Many saw Steveson as a top prospect in MMA.

Before UFC 331, Steveson trained with UFC veteran Jon Jones, learning from one of the sport's most accomplished fighters. Jones had previously called Steveson a future UFC heavyweight champion. That prediction is now uncertain after UFC 331.

Rogan considers Jones the greatest UFC fighter ever. However, he feels the former two-division champion put too much pressure on his protégé.

Rogan Questions Gable Steveson-Jon Jones Partnership

On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan discussed Steveson’s work with Jones.

“You can’t pretend to be the guy you’re hanging out with,” Rogan stated, referring to Steveson and Jones.

“That’s the problem: You’re hanging out with a guy who’s the GOAT, and you start thinking you’re the next guy. You might be. You could be – if you do the right things. But if you believe it before it happens … you have to be cautious, but also confident. There’s this dance of the mind. There’s so much going on to be an elite fighter.

“You have to be aware,” Rogan added. “Look at Kamaru Usman. Beating Leon Edwards for four rounds, all of a sudden one head kick – boom, lost the title. Never the same guy – because you’re human. As tough as Kamaru is, he’s a f—— human being. It’s a wild dance of possibilities, but it’s also one of the reasons why people love the sport so much. What you did elevated the whole sport.” (via MMA Junkie)