Gable 2028

[The_KC_Godfather]

I’m sure he’s just doing RAF for a paycheck and seems like he’s all in for MMA. BUT…why not question if our defending Olympic Gold Medalist takes a stab at being a 2-timer?

Taking it a step further…if he does decide to go again, can he beat Wyatt?

[Sparro]

I’ll bite. I think he is the best US offering we have at the weight. No Geno. It’s Zare. I am confident that in Freestyle he beats Wyatt and Mason. His 2028 $ value for placing at Worlds exceeds his RAF pay. Ceiling for us at Worlds is silver.

[The_KC_Godfather]

8 minutes ago, Sparro said:

I’ll bite. I think he is the best US offering we have at the weight. No Geno. It’s Zare. I am confident that in Freestyle he beats Wyatt and Mason. His 2028 $ value for placing at Worlds exceeds his RAF pay. Ceiling for us at Worlds is silver.

Sorry, didn’t mean for a “bite”…was a legit question to generate discussion. My question is if Dana allows him to compete in 2028. If he does what I think he’ll do in the UFC over the next 12-18 months, his payday would be a lot higher in the UFC if Dana said no.

I doubt he’d risk that, but let’s say Dana said yes. Can he win another Oly gold?

[GlassPrison]

I sure hope he goes and I think he can medal.  Let’s see Gable vs Sharipov in RAF and we will get a view on potential medal placement.

[bnwtwg]

We're still doing this?

[El Luchador]

I'm so over Gable. His fights interest me zero and as a wrestler I'm not interested in watching a guy half ass it.  His participation in the sport is only to use it as a spring board to a bigger paycheck. 

[headshuck]

I'm so over Gable. His fights interest me zero and as a wrestler I'm not interested in watching a guy half ass it.  His participation in the sport is only to use it as a spring board to a bigger paycheck. 

What’s wrong with advancing his career for a bigger paycheck? No risk, no reward.

[AgaveMaria]

3 hours ago, headshuck said:

What’s wrong with advancing his career for a bigger paycheck? No risk, no reward.

it is the way he is treating Wrestling. HalfVast mailing it in.

[headshuck]

it is the way he is treating Wrestling. HalfVast mailing it in.

Yeah, but he’s not the first to move on. Cael ended his wrestling career for an opportunity to coach.

[Le duke]

On 5/2/2026 at 9:05 PM, headshuck said:

Yeah, but he’s not the first to move on. Cael ended his wrestling career for an opportunity to coach.

Different eras. The "Living the Dream" fund alone would make it worth it for Gable.

Cael and a LOT of dudes before him would have stuck around a lot longer if there was a shot to make legitimate money at an RTC + get a stipend/bonus from USAW. Nearly all of our medalists before the last couple of Olympic cycles were either in college or very recent graduates. Now, you can actually make a living in the sport. 

[headshuck]

Different eras. The "Living the Dream" fund alone would make it worth it for Gable.

Cael and a LOT of dudes before him would have stuck around a lot longer if there was a shot to make legitimate money at an RTC + get a stipend/bonus from USAW. Nearly all of our medalists before the last couple of Olympic cycles were either in college or very recent graduates. Now, you can actually make a living in the sport. 

For sure. Not going to dispute that. I think Gable has an opportunity to make 10x that with UFC and endorsements.

[dragit]

10 hours ago, headshuck said:

For sure. Not going to dispute that. I think Gable has an opportunity to make 10x that with UFC and endorsements.

He also has an opportunity to get his teeth kicked out with a flying kick.  I've always not understood why he didn't wrestle for world and Olympic gold money plus endorsements and other ancillary earning potential in wrestling, a sport where he is as close to a sure thing as there is if he took it seriously.  Whereas there is no particular reason to think he'll be anywhere near as successful in anything else he's shown interest in.  Obviously he doesn't have the intense love for the sport we all wish he had.  It's a bummer but I get it.  But through the money/mercenary lens, it's a good bet in a way that it wasn't 20 years ago.

[wrestle87]

I think Wyatt killed his love for the sport, and his marketability.  Gable will forever be known for that loss.  That win continues to propel hendrickson, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch.  Gable (rightfully) hasn’t been that invested since WINNING THE OLYMPICS.

[Room Guy]

You people are a bunch of weirdos about your opinions on this guy. Things like "how he's treating this sport"...like he desecrated a church or something. He has the right to come in as sharp and in shape as he sees fit or as an unprepared slob, who gives a shit. He's participating in a sport at the level and amount he sees fit. And will still be 99.999 percent better of all of us bums on here. Has he made some questionable logistical decisions, maybe. But, who knows what this kid went through from the age of 5 to 22 as a wrestler. Most people are fried by the sport after college. That's a lot of miles, practices, change of locations. Besides a world title he's won everything. If he enjoys going it or can put some change in his pocket doing more power to him. He owes wrestling nothing. 

[LJB]

10 minutes ago, Room Guy said:

You people are a bunch of weirdos about your opinions on this guy. Things like "how he's treating this sport"...like he desecrated a church or something. He has the right to come in as sharp and in shape as he sees fit or as an unprepared slob, who gives a shit. He's participating in a sport at the level and amount he sees fit. And will still be 99.999 percent better of all of us bums on here. Has he made some questionable logistical decisions, maybe. But, who knows what this kid went through from the age of 5 to 22 as a wrestler. Most people are fried by the sport after college. That's a lot of miles, practices, change of locations. Besides a world title he's won everything. If he enjoys going it or can put some change in his pocket doing more power to him. He owes wrestling nothing. 

^^this 100%
 

 

[dragit]

4 hours ago, Room Guy said:

You people are a bunch of weirdos about your opinions on this guy. Things like "how he's treating this sport"...like he desecrated a church or something. He has the right to come in as sharp and in shape as he sees fit or as an unprepared slob, who gives a shit. He's participating in a sport at the level and amount he sees fit. And will still be 99.999 percent better of all of us bums on here. Has he made some questionable logistical decisions, maybe. But, who knows what this kid went through from the age of 5 to 22 as a wrestler. Most people are fried by the sport after college. That's a lot of miles, practices, change of locations. Besides a world title he's won everything. If he enjoys going it or can put some change in his pocket doing more power to him. He owes wrestling nothing. 

Good points, and I agree.  He is free to make his choices and owes the sport and the fans nothing. And, by the way, he's terrific with wrestling fans, I saw him give unending autographs and selfies his last year, and he couldn't have been more engaging and pleasant. 

That doesn't mean I can't be bummed to not see him compete (I'd probably choose him over anyone else to watch) and can't be bummed that instead of wrestling he's doing things that he's not special at (or, so far, even any good at all at).  But I freely admit those are my opinions, that he can and should live his life the way he sees fit,  and that so far in that journey he seems like a well adjusted person who absolutely shouldn't be hated on.

[lowSingle155]

Yeah, a lot of people do act like he owes us something other than being a good sport. And as the poster above said, he's respectful to the fan base. I think it's a shame we'll never see him at full potential dominating a cycle or 2 or 3. But I'll never forget his personal peak against Geno, that was unbelievable.

[Room Guy]

I get it. Another guy that seems like he had questionable logistics in Wrestling and MMA was Henry Cejudo. He reached the pinnacle in two different sports but there were gaps in there where it seems like he could have done a lot more. Henry could have been a killing machine from 2008-2012 in Wrestling but kind of disappeared until the trials in 2012. Then in MMA he had an abrupt early retirement when he was in my opinion the best fighter in the world and left a lot on the table. That being said I think there is an incredible amount of stress on these athletes that we should be sympathetic towards and the bottom line is they have reached the pinnacle, Henry doing it in 2 sports is insane. Hopefully Gable can do the same now. 

[Ragu]

Gable is one of my favorite American wrestlers of all time. I would love to see his name thrown in the hat and I think he’d take the spot if he trained for it. A match between him and Zare if he was full time wrestling would favor Gable. At this point I feel like Zare would hold center very easily, that’s assuming he gets to him

[The_KC_Godfather]

31 minutes ago, Room Guy said:

I get it. Another guy that seems like he had questionable logistics in Wrestling and MMA was Henry Cejudo. He reached the pinnacle in two different sports but there were gaps in there where it seems like he could have done a lot more. Henry could have been a killing machine from 2008-2012 in Wrestling but kind of disappeared until the trials in 2012. Then in MMA he had an abrupt early retirement when he was in my opinion the best fighter in the world and left a lot on the table. That being said I think there is an incredible amount of stress on these athletes that we should be sympathetic towards and the bottom line is they have reached the pinnacle, Henry doing it in 2 sports is insane. Hopefully Gable can do the same now. 

Pico was another one that I think we all had high hopes for, at least on the international scene. He had a nice bounce back win at UFC 327 and I hope he can continue to climb. I think Gable will be just fine in MMA with time and training with Jon Jones.

And let's not forget...he's a multiple time NCAA champ, Olympic champ, nearly made an NFL team, was in the WWE, in the UFC...and he's 25 freakin years old!!!

Edited May 5 by The_KC_Godfather

[MPhillips]

6 minutes ago, The_KC_Godfather said:

He had a nice bounce back win at UFC 327

He finally decided to wrestle...

[jchapman]

On 5/1/2026 at 11:45 PM, The_KC_Godfather said:

I’m sure he’s just doing RAF for a paycheck and seems like he’s all in for MMA. BUT…why not question if our defending Olympic Gold Medalist takes a stab at being a 2-timer?

Taking it a step further…if he does decide to go again, can he beat Wyatt?

I apologize for being petty, but Gable is not a defending Olympic Gold Medalist.  Geno won 125 KG in the most recent Olympics so he is the defending Olympic champ.

[The_KC_Godfather]

4 minutes ago, jchapman said:

I apologize for being petty, but Gable is not a defending Olympic Gold Medalist.  Geno won 125 KG in the most recent Olympics so he is the defending Olympic champ.

I'm stupid. You're smart. I was wrong. You were right. You're the best. I'm the worst. You're very good-looking. I'm not very attractive.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

14 hours ago, jchapman said:

I apologize for being petty, but Gable is not a defending Olympic Gold Medalist.  Geno won 125 KG in the most recent Olympics so he is the defending Olympic champ.

Not petty at all. Corrections are always welcome.

It is important that all discussions are based on facts. They are the very foundation of quality discussion.

Edited May 6 by GreatWhiteNorth

[GrandOlm]

I just thought the the celebrity worship (because he was successful in wrestling that means he belongs to some "athlete super class" and he will extremely successful in everything else he tries) was delusional and that success in WWE has little to no crossover with wrestling. I also thought he was not a good candidate for becoming a pro football player. 

I don't think you can trumpet his football accomplishments as some great achievement. A NFL coach who was a wrestling fan invited him to the practice squad. He was cut, since he had no chance. That's just favoritism giving someone a cool memory. Ghadaffi's son was a pro football players in Serie A in a round about way as well.