UFC 329 live blog: Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison

This is the UFC 329 live blog for Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison, the preliminary card heavyweight bout Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Steveson (3-0) is one of the most highly touted prospects in recent memory. The 26-year-old had a sterling international and collegiate wrestling career, winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and a pair of NCAA Division-I championships. After dabbling in professional football and professional wrestling, Steveson shifted his focus back to competitive combat sports. As a pro fighter, Steveson has won three MMA fights and a Dirty Boxing match, with none of his opponents making it out of the first round, and he recently returned to the mats at an RAF event where he earned a dominant tech fall victory over former UFC fighter Alexandr Romanov.

One of the biggest underdogs in UFC history, Ellison (5-2) enters the octagon Saturday with nothing to lose. His UFC debut this past September lasted less than two minutes as he was on the wrong end of a knockout at the hands of Brando Pericic. On FanDuel, Ellison is currently a 9-to-1 underdog.

Check out the UFC 329 live blog for Gable Steveson vs. Elisha Ellison below.

Round 1: Will Steveson do what he’s supposed to do here and secure an early finish? We’re about to find out. And here we go!

Ellison opens up with a jab and Steveson misses a head kick and goes down but right back up. Steveson with a monster left hand that doesn’t connect, and now he tries to wrestle but Ellison defends. They’re throwing in the clinch against the fence now, with Ellison landing a good elbow. Steveson with a couple of kicks to the body now, and referee Marc Goddard calls time for a low blow. Replay shows that one of the kicks landed low … or did it? Goddard says he heard it landed on the cup, and Ellison is still given time to recover.

Action resumes and Steveson is all over Ellison now with left hands but Ellison firing back. Ellison with a right hand, and Steveson again with kicks to the body and overhand rights. Ellison is hurt, and again a left hook to get the knockout! It’s over!