Jon Jones has cleared the air on Gable Steveson leaving the octagon early following his devastating KO loss at UFC 331.

Heavy favorite Steveson took on Sean Sharaf and was knocked out cold, just 12 seconds into the first round, even as a shocked Jones looked on.

This ended up being the Olympian’s first loss in his MMA career, in what was his second bout in the UFC.

Following his defeat, Steveson walked out of the octagon instead of staying for the result announcement. The 26-year-old came under a lot of criticism for the same.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 19: Gable Steveson reacts after a knockout defeat against Sean Sharaf in a heavyweight fight during the UFC 331 event at Crypto.com Arena on September 19, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

However, Jones has now jumped to Steveson’s defense claiming that it was his ‘decision’ to take the latter ‘straight to the back’ after the fight, also explaining why he did so. Taking to X, Jones wrote:

I’ve seen some reports on line and I really wanted to clear the air. It was my decision to take Gable straight to the back after the fight. Honestly it was the first time in this situation for me and my instant reaction was to get my friend to the back to make sure he was ok.

Jones then claimed that Steveson would surely bounce back from this loss. He continued:

Gable’s work ethic and will to win is there and I stand by him and believe he will go on to be one of the best heavyweights in the ufc. He will be back I’m sure of it.

Check out Jon Jones’ tweet below:

Like Jon Jones, Gable Steveson’s Manager Also Believes the 26-year-old Will Bounce Back

Gable Steveson’s manager Abraham Kawa took to Instagram following the former’s loss and posted an encouraging message, also stating that the 26-year-old will bounce back.

He wrote:

It’s ok that Gable got caught. It’s ok that he was booed. It’s ok his opponent talked shit. It’s ok that the world is kicking him when down. It’s the life he chose. Islam got clipped. Arman has lost. DJ has lost. Gsp lost. Dc lost. Jose Aldo lost. All went on to have absolutely legendary careers. We stand by our guy. He will be back real soon and he will be great!

Check out Abraham Kawa’s post below:

Gerard Crispin

Gerard Crispin is an editor and writer with expertise across MMA, Football, Tennis, Cricket, NBA and F1. He has published over 3500 articles in Combat Sports, across multiple websites, viz. Sportskeeda, FanSided MMA, MediaReferee, FirstSportz and PFSN. Crispin currently covers UFC for LowKickMMA.