Gable Steveson has been told by his fellow Jackson Wink fighter Cody East that he must make big changes before he returns to action.

Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Steveson was one of the biggest favorites in UFC history when he took on Sean Sharaf in Los Angeles. His rival had never won a fight in the octagon before they fought, but within 12 seconds that had all changed.

What would your advice be to Gable Steveson after UFC 331?

Sean Sharaf knocked out the Olympic gold medalist in 12 seconds.

Since his UFC 331 defeat, questions have arisen over Steveson’s preparations and his training under coach Jon Jones. And ahead of his fight tonight with Isaac Villanueva at BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing in Biloxi, Cody East admitted that he had seen very little of the Olympian.

Cody East open to training with Gable Steveson for UFC return

Since making the move from wrestling into MMA, Gable Steveson has been on a fast track to the top of the heavyweight division. However, he appears to have taken a different approach to his training, and focuses more on one-to-one work with Jon Jones and Greg Jackson than joining classes.

Cody East, who is one of Josh Hokit’s main sparring partners and a long-time teammate of Jones’, told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat that he had never so much as seen Steveson spar prior to his defeat last month in LA.

“I’ve seen them [Jones and Steveson] wrestle at class,” he recalled. “But he didn’t really join the classes. There was maybe one group class ever. I’ve never seen him spar, he just comes in and does mitts with his coach and works on privates.

“I believe there will be some changes, I mean, there’s got to be some changes for him to progress in his career. The sky is really the limit for that guy, he’s very talented and skilled but you’ve got to get punched in the face a few times to see how it feels and how you react to stuff.

“Mitts are great and we can all look great hitting them, but what’s happening when someone is throwing back at you?”

East was also keen to volunteer his services as a sparring partner, adding that “If he wants someone to throw bombs at him, I’m available! I’ve got no problem punching him and he knows that he’ll learn to keep his hands up and get his head off the line if he spars with me.

“I’m going to punch him and it’s going to improve him and it will definitely improve me so we’ll all get better together.”