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UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones attends Gophers' wrestling match

Jones was there to show love to Gable Steveson.
Will Ragatz|
Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Jon Jones (red gloves) reacts after defeating Stipe Miocic (not pictured) in the heavyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Jon Jones (red gloves) reacts after defeating Stipe Miocic (not pictured) in the heavyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

UFC heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones was in attendance at Minnesota's wrestling match against Purdue on Sunday afternoon inside Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.

He was there to show love to Gable Steveson, the Gophers heavyweight who was in Jones' most recent UFC fight camp. After winning his bout via tech fall, Steveson went over and dapped up Jones in the front row.

The No. 7 Gophers cruised on the mat, improving to 10-1 (and 6-1 in the Big Ten) by blowing out No. 28 Purdue 35-6 to win their sixth dual in a row. They won eight of the ten matches on the day. Minnesota was coming off an upset win over No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday.

Afterwards, Jones spoke to Minnesota's team in the locker room.

"An honor to be here," he said. "I wish you guys all the best this season. Hope you guys go on and do great things this season. Wrestling is one of the greatest sports ever. I've always heard that once you wrestle, everything else in life feels easy, and I really believe that's true. Have a great season."

"My guy!" Steveson said in an Instagram comment. "Appreciate the love and support for us today!"

Jones, 37, was a wrestler in high school in college. He's been a professional MMA fighter since 2008. With a career record of 28-1-0 (and one no-contest), he's regarded as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Jones has had multiple stints as the UFC's light heavyweight champion and is currently the heavyweight champ, having most recently defended that title against Stipe Miocic on November 16.

The Gophers will host Iowa next Friday in the final home match of Steveson's career. After that, they're off to the Big Ten Championships in Evanston, IL on March 8-9.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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