Sean
Sharaf knew Gable
Steveson was looking past him before their clash.
Sharaf was a massive underdog going into his
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight bout against
Steveson at UFC
331. He knocked Steveson out cold in 12 seconds in a monumental
upset and has since revealed that he knew the Olympian was
underestimating him, which only motivated him further.
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Sharaf says Steveson’s RAF 12 wrestling match during UFC camp
lit a fire under him
Sharaf recently revealed that a specific moment made it certain
that Steveson was looking past him. Steveson (4-1) defeated Anthony
Cassioppi in a wrestling match at RAF 12, less than a month before
his fight against Sharaf. When Sharaf saw Steveson doing side
quests during fight camp, he knew that the Olympic gold medalist
was overconfident.
“He did a [Real American Freestyle] match,” Sharaf told TMZ Sports.
“He did a wrestling match like the month prior, and that’s when I
knew. He’s in fight camp and he’s going to do another event.”
Meanwhile, it was a do-or-die matchup for Sharaf (5-2), having been
knocked out in both of his previous UFC bouts. While he knew that
he was being considered a stepping stone for Steveson, the former
U.S. Marine was determined to win.
“I was on the chopping block,” Sharaf added. “Literally, everyone
was just like, he even said in his interview, ‘He’s a sacrificial
lamb, he’s a coward, he’s looking for a way out,’ and I’m like,
‘Bro, I signed up for this, brother. I signed the contract.’ I am
definitely going to show up on fight night and I’m definitely here
to f*cking win.”
Sharaf then doubled down on his advice to never underestimate an
opponent, especially at the highest level.
„That’s another lesson, like, bro, you can’t underestimate anyone.
Like I said, he has two hands, he has two legs, he bleeds red and
you can get touched, especially in the UFC.“