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Jon Anik isn’t counting out a turnaround for Gable Steveson, but he admits it’s a steep hill to climb.

Steveson got off to a blazing 4-0 start in his pro MMA career, but things quickly came crashing down in his most recent outing. The Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling was iced by Sean Sharaf in just 12 seconds at UFC 331. It was a devastating knockout loss made even worse by the fact that Sharaf called out Steveson throughout fight week for past sexual assault accusations.

Anik was on play-by-play duties during Steveson’s upset loss, and he has some thoughts in the aftermath of UFC 331. Appearing on Submission Radio, Anik said that while he thinks there’s still a chance Steveson can get back on track, it will be a tall task (via MMAJunkie).

“I still believe if Gable Steveson gets to 10 UFC fights, he’s going to realize a ton of success,” Anik said. “But after his UFC debut, which went well, I went on our podcast, I said over-under 10 UFC fights for Gable. I’m not sure he actually gets to 10 fights. This is an appreciable setback. So I’m as curious as anybody to see how he responds from this, but it’s a big deal, and this is not the easiest thing from which to come back.”

Many notable MMA names have weighed in on Steveson’s defeat. The likes of Colby Covington, Josh Hokit, and Matt Brown have called for Steveson to move on from the mentorship of Jon Jones. Whether or not Steveson would consider such a move remains to be seen, but he has expressed interest in branching out while keeping Jones by his side.

Do you think Gable Steveson will reach at least 10 fights under the UFC banner, or will he fizzle out? Join in on the conversation in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM