Steveson TKO's Ellison in UFC debut first round
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Gable Steveson (4-0) finished Elisha Ellison (5-3) via TKO at 2:31 of the opening round in his UFC heavyweight debut at UFC 329 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
- Steveson entered the bout as one of the biggest betting favorites in UFC history and lived up to it, outlanding Ellison 41-14 in total strikes without recording a takedown.
- All four of Steveson's MMA victories have now come via first-round knockout, with the 26-year-old relying on front kicks to break Ellison down on the feet.
- Steveson is a 2020 U.S. Olympic gold medalist and two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion who trains at JacksonWink MMA Academy alongside Jon Jones under coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson.
- Ellison, 29, falls to 0-2 in the UFC, with both of his losses coming by first-round TKO.
- Steveson attempted just one takedown along the fence, which Ellison denied, underscoring that the Olympic wrestler won this fight as a striker rather than relying on his wrestling base.
Why it matters: A UFC debut that produces one of the largest favorite tags in promotion history and ends with a first-round TKO without a takedown establishes Steveson as a credible heavyweight contender on day one — not a multi-fight project. His JacksonWink affiliation with Jon Jones gives him elite coaching infrastructure, while four straight first-round finishes suggest the UFC's heavyweight division has a new problem to solve.
