Before announcing his return to the Gophers wrestling program last week, Gable Steveson had been helping UFC legend Jon Jones prepare for his heavyweight title fight at UFC 309. After leaving the event with a victory Saturday night, Jones praised Steveson.

Steveson claims to be one of the most decorated heavyweight wrestlers in the world and many amateur wrestling greats like Brock Lesnar, Daniel Cormier and Bo Nickal have made the transition to MMA.

“Gable has it all. One of his first days of practice, one of my teammates got injured practicing with me and Gable said, ‘I’m going to go,'” said Jones after the event. “I’m like Gable, you might want to learn how to defend yourself or block first, it might be a lot harder than it looks, but it made me know at that time that “He’s very playful.”

Jones already had a star training camp his second-round TKO victory over Stipe Miocic. Steveson was joined by arguably one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, Gordon Ryan, as well as some of MMA’s best heavyweights. If there was ever a time for Steveson to get into the sport of MMA, it would have been during his training with Jones.

“I kneed him in the face in one of his very first practices, he ate it and he looked like a little kid smelling a new toy,” Jones said. “He’s going to be scary. He’s going to be very scary when he decides to do MMA. He knows how to make men look very weak, me being one of them.”

Steveson will turn 25 on May 31. Lesnar didn’t make his UFC debut until he was 30 years old. The sport of MMA has evolved significantly since 2008, but Steveson is already learning from the best.

“When he learns to box and learn a little jiu-jitsu, it’s not a question of if he will become a UFC champion, but rather when he will be,” Jones said. “Whether he trains in Albuquerque with our family or finds another team, whoever gets him will be really lucky to have him.”

Steveson will make his return to the NCAA wrestling mat on November 24 against Campbell, as he looks to win a third NCAA championship. After his final season of collegiate wrestling, it appears he might have a future in the sport of MMA.