Jon Jones isn’t giving up on Gable Steveson after his 12-second nightmare, but he knows something needs to change. The Olympic gold medalist got brutally knocked out by Sean Sharaf at UFC 331, suffering one of the most shocking losses of the event. Now, ‘Bones’ has pointed to one major area where Steveson and his team need to step things up: more sparring.

Speaking to The Schmo, the former UFC heavyweight champion backed the Olympian to bounce back, expressing confidence in both his character and potential. But when it comes to fixing what went wrong, the 39-year-old believes the team needs to put in more work inside the gym.

“I feel like, as a team, we need to add a lot more sparring,” he said.

Gable Steveson came into the fight as a ridiculous -2500 favorite, with plenty of people expecting the 26-year-old to run wild in the heavyweight division. Training under Jon Jones and respected coach Greg Jackson only added to the hype.

But that 12-second KO flipped the script fast, raising serious questions about whether the 26-year-old is ready for the big leagues. And the criticism didn’t stop there, with veteran Colby Covington even suggesting he should ditch Jones’ camp.

Despite the brutal loss, ‘Bones’ isn’t jumping ship on Steveson anytime soon. The former UFC champion is still firmly in his corner, and it goes beyond what the 26-year-old can do inside the cage.

Jon Jones praised the Olympian for the kind of person he is, making it clear that he believes the heavyweight has the right people around him to get back on track.

“Gable’s doing great,” he continued. “Gable’s doing really, really awesome. I believe in Gable. I believe in the man and the person that he is. I’m excited for him to just clear things up moving forward in his life and his personal life.”

Jon Jones isn’t just backing Gable Steveson because of his wrestling credentials, either. The former champ believes the heavyweight has the character to match his athletic gifts, pointing to how he treats his family and the people around him as reasons he deserves to succeed.

“And as far as the athlete that Gable is, he’s extraordinary,” he added. “He’s absolutely extraordinary. He deserves good things. He does all the right things.

“He’s an awesome father and an awesome husband and a great son. I see the way that he treats the people around him, and he deserves success.”

‘Bones’ isn’t about to let one brutal 12-second KO write the 26-year-old’s entire MMA story. The former champion knows a single loss doesn’t mean the end of the road, and he’s backing his protege to learn from the setback and come back stronger.

Jon Jones compares Gable Steveson’s defeat to Georges St-Pierre’s upset loss

If Gable Steveson needs proof that one shocking loss doesn’t have to derail an entire career, Jon Jones has a pretty big example in mind. He brought up Georges St-Pierre’s jaw-dropping upset against Matt Serra at UFC 69 in 2007, when Serra stunned the heavily favored champion and stopped him in one of the biggest upsets the sport had ever seen.

St-Pierre didn’t let that loss define him. He bounced back, eventually becoming a two-division UFC champion and retiring with a phenomenal 26-2 record. For ‘Bones,’ it’s a reminder that even the best fighters can get caught—what matters is how they respond afterward.

“And if you think about it, all the great fighters have had knockouts and losses,” Jones said. “I mean, (Georges St-Pierre) vs. Matt Serra – there’s just so many examples. He’s in the right head space. He’s right back to training.”

Gable Steveson’s road to MMA has been anything but straightforward. The Olympic wrestling gold medalist first tried his luck in the NFL and WWE, but neither path worked out as planned. MMA looked like a fresh start, and he wasted no time making noise, stopping his first three opponents by first-round TKO.

The 26-year-old kept the hype rolling in his UFC debut at UFC 329, knocking out Elisha Ellison despite getting tagged himself along the way. But just when things seemed to be clicking, Sean Sharaf brought him crashing back to earth at UFC 331, knocking him out in a jaw-dropping 12 seconds.

But Jon Jones isn’t hitting the panic button just yet, and neither is Steveson’s team. With more sparring on the agenda and the heavyweight already back in training, the focus now shifts to fixing the gaps and making sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

The support is there, but Steveson still has to do the work inside the cage. His next outing will show whether that brutal 12-second KO was just a wake-up call or a sign that he needs more time to develop.