Jon Jones shares words of encouragement to "brother" Gable Steveson after latter's shock loss to Wyatt Hendrickson: "Higher and higher we climb"

Jon Jones recently took time to uplift former Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson who recently suffered a loss to Wyatt Hendrickson in the NCAA championships. Hendrickson's win over Steveson to garner the national title at 285 is being called by many the biggest upset in the history of NCAA wrestling.

Steveson bested Hendrickson in the 2021 NCAA championships but the latter has now turned the tables four years later. The discourse on this upset is understandable considering the pedigree that Steveson has in the sport and a fellow all-time great in another combative sport has come out to offer his support.

This transpired when the reigning UFC heavyweight champion Jones shared a video of him interacting with Steveson to his Instagram story along with some corresponding text. The message that was put in this clip saw Jon Jones state:

"Proud of my brother. A loss on the mat doesn't define anything - his work ethic, heart, and character speak for themselves. One of the hardest-working, most impressive young men I've met in a long time. Higher and higher we climb."

[Image Courtesy: @jonnybones Instagram story]

---

Jon Jones and Gable Steveson's rapport together

Jon Jones offered some insights on his Instagram story about the drive and dedication that Steveson has in a training room. The two notably got in work with one another leading into Jones' prior bout last November that saw him defeat Stipe Miocic. A big part of his camp leading into that UFC 309 bout with Miocic was the work that Jones got in with the NCAA wrestling dynamo.

There have also been some rumblings that Steveson is keen to pursue an MMA career at some point. The former WWE contracted talent and former Buffalo Bills contracted player would then be in a mutually beneficial situation training with Jones, who many see as the GOAT of mixed martial arts.

One of the more famous clips of the two working together saw Jones instinctually throw a flying knee at Steveson when the latter shot in for a takedown.

'Bones' utilized lightning quick reaction time to pull back on the literal knee jerk reaction so that he does not knock out Gable Steveson in the lead-up to his UFC 309 bout.

Check out Jon Jones training with Gable Steveson below: