Mike Perry, Gable Steveson speak at Dirty Boxing pre-fight press conference
Ahead of Dirty Boxing’s Nashville fight card on Oct. 30, hear from co-owner Mike Perry as well as main event fighters Gable Steveson and Billy Swanson.
Gable Steveson is wasting no time as he begins his professional fighting career.
It took the Olympic gold medalist just 15 seconds to drop Chattanooga’s Billy Swanson on the canvas in the main event on the Dirty Boxing’s fight card at The Pinnacle on Oct. 30.
“Unreal,” Dirty Boxing co-founder and CEO Malki Kawa said after the fight. “That’s what you’re supposed to do. You go in there, and if somebody gives an opportunity to finish a fight, you finish it. I think that guy’s future is super bright.”
Moments after the bell rang Steveson found a home for a bruising left hand before a sweeping right knocked Swanson off balance. From there all it took was an uppercut to send Swanson down with three quick hits from above forcing the referee to step in and halt the bout.
It was a continuation of Steveson’s red-hot start in the professional ranks, having made his mixed martial arts debut on LFA 217 in September, needing only 98 seconds to secure the win against Braden Peterson.
And while Steveson is set on a future in the UFC, Dirty Boxing provided a chance to show he’s more than just a touted wrestler, but a capable striker as well. Along with his Olympic gold medal, Steveson’s wrestling resume includes two NCAA national titles.
Dirty Boxing combines elements of boxing and mixed martial arts, with elbows, ground-and-pounds and spinning backfists permitted, while grappling and kicking are illegal. It was the perfect place for Steveson.
“Gable is a superstar already as it is, but he’s probably going to be a bigger superstar as time goes on,” Kawa said. “And Dirty Boxing is going to be a part of the beginning of his history.”
Nashville hosts first Dirty Boxing event outside Miami
The card was Dirty Boxing’s first trip outside of Miami, where each of its first three events were held. Nashville rose up as the top contender for Dirty Boxing’s first foray outside of South Florida after being proposed by Nashville local and business partner of Kawa’s, Josh McLean.
There’s hope Nashville can emerge as a second home.
“We’re going to come to Nashville again,” Kawa said. “We are definitely going to travel and definitely going international. This was our first one, we had a great experience doing it, so we got to get back to the drawing board, just take a look at what’s next and go from there.”
Despite being a household name in wrestling, the start of Steveson’s MMA career has brought a new level of celebrity, the next step as he strives to become the sport’s predominant star − a title currently held by his coach Jon Jones.
“Now is like a new world to capture,” Steveson told reporters ahead of the fight. “It’s always cool to see the amount of people that gravitate to someone doing well. To someone that can make it and push far in their career.”
Harrison Campbell covers combat sports for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @hccamp.
