“It’s very powerful,” Steveson admits. “But it comes with a lot of bad, too, because your mind is in so many places of, hey, I could do one thing, I could do the next. I’m 25, so when I was 21, 22, I was just trying to do it all. And it just gets to the point where it is overwhelming and you say, ‘I need to be great at something and really pursue it hard.’ So in my earlier stages, I was all over because I was like, man, I can do WWE, I could play in the NFL. I could fight, I could probably play first base. (Laughs) I might be able to go to the Euro leagues and play soccer. So it’s crazy. But as I’ve gotten older and I got more mature, I see the world and I’m like, okay, let’s focus on a grand thing and make it the biggest possible.”
That starts on Friday with his MMA debut, one of the most talked about in years, and for good reason, because while he talks about focusing on one thing and being great, he’s already done that on the mats. That’s not hyperbole, because you don’t win Olympic gold, two NCAA D-1 titles, three world titles, and two Dan Hodge trophies by being very good. And truth be told, when you realize that his middle name is Dan, after the legendary Dan Gable, he really couldn’t have gone on to work a 9 to 5.
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“No, I couldn’t have,” he laughs. “It was impossible.”
That’s not easy, spending your whole life, especially your teenage years, focused on one thing while your friends are all doing, well, teenage things.