Gable Steveson, who was a -2500 favorite to beat Sean Sharaf at UFC 331, suffered a monumental setback in California yesterday. It took Sharaf just 12 seconds of the very first round to hand Steveson the first loss of his career with a vicious left hook. Naturally, the 25-year-old is now facing doubts from fans and experts after the crushing defeat. But a UFC legend believes he can come back, just as Islam Makhachev once did.

In a recent social media video, former title challenger Chael Sonnen expressed his belief in Steveson’s comeback by comparing the loss to Makhachev’s.

“And the opinion on these can kind of tell the rest of us how long you have been a fan,” Sonnen said. “History repeats itself. So if you’ve been a fan for a while, you don’t really think a whole lot of what happened to Gable. But if you’re new, oh boy, Gable may never fight again. Gable’s done. He’ll never come back.

“Now, if you’ve been around a while, you don’t have to look any further than Islam. Islam Makhachev got put down, came back, never lost again, took him to another world championship, number one kind of pound-for-pound ranking.”

As Sonnen pointed out, a prospect like Steveson could ultimately rebound the way Makhachev did. Over a decade ago, the Dagestani suffered a devastating knockout loss to Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in October 2015. Following that defeat, Makhachev went on to become a two-division champion, and he recently broke Anderson Silva‘s record of 16 consecutive wins by earning his 17th against Ian Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia.

Despite Sonnen being highly optimistic, predicting such a career turnaround for a prospect like Steveson is admittedly ambitious right now. So far, the Minnesota native hasn’t opened up about his recent defeat. But his manager, Malki Kawa, echoed Sonnen’s sentiment to assure fans that the UFC heavyweight is plotting his comeback.

“It’s OK that Gable got caught,” Kawa wrote on Instagram. “It’s OK that he was booed. It’s OK his opponent talked shit. It’s OK that the world is kicking him when down. It’s the life he chose. Islam got clipped. Arman has lost. DJ has lost. GSP lost. DC lost. Jose Aldo lost. All went on to have absolutely legendary careers. We stand by our guy. He will be back real soon, and he will be great!”

Steveson currently trains at Jackson Wink under marquee coach Greg Jackson, and he is also developing under the mentorship of former two-division champion Jon Jones, who was on the verge of tears after his loss at UFC 331.

So, the recent setback aside, Steveson can certainly push for a stellar comeback with such a strong team of experts behind him. Still, there is no guarantee he will keep winning his future fights.

Reflecting further on his loss, Sonnen pinpointed Steveson’s crucial mistake at UFC 331 by comparing his approach to another Dagestani legend.

Chael Sonnen breaks down Gable Steveson’s crucial mistake at UFC 331 

Gable Steveson, a decorated Olympic freestyle wrestler, was expected to lean on his primary skill in his fights: wrestling. Instead, the Minnesota native has relied on his knockout power to beat his opponents. He made his promotional debut by knocking out Elisha Ellison in the first round at UFC 329.

Because of that, Steveson didn’t think twice before engaging in a heated exchange with Sharaf at UFC 331, which Sonnen feels was a grave mistake.

“Whenever you have a wrestler, a wrestler more guilty perhaps than any other sport, buys into the idea that I need to be well-rounded,” Sonnen added in the same video. “As soon as you buy into the idea that I need to be well-rounded, you then want to show people that you’re well-rounded. It’s just something that Khabib never had. Khabib understood the assignment, which is to bring my best skill and overwhelm you with it.”

‘The Bad Guy’ definitely makes a valid point here. Khabib Nurmagomedov never strayed from his primary game plan of overwhelming opponents with pressure grappling, and that gave him a massive competitive edge against the likes of Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

However, Steveson hasn’t used his takedown game much against his opponents despite being an Olympic freestyle wrestler, which definitely raises a big question mark over his approach. That said, a heavyweight relying on wrestling is quite different from a lightweight doing so, because it takes far more energy for the big men, who tend to prefer standing and banging.

Still, it would have been interesting had Steveson at least showcased some of his grappling. Who knows? The fight could have played out very differently if he opened with a shot. Even so, the young UFC heavyweight is expected to learn from this loss and come back even stronger next time.