Ex-champ says cornermen failed Gable Steveson at UFC 331

Gable Steveson has been under plenty of scrutiny since UFC 331.

Steveson (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was on the receiving end of one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when he was knocked out by Sean Sharaf (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in just 12 seconds this past Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Olympic gold medalist wrestler was booed all week by fans and received even more criticism after exiting the octagon early before Sharaf got his hand raised.

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman pointed at Steveson's corner for not intervening.

"It's a good experience for you. It's a humbling experience," Weidman said on "Deep Waters." "It's a terrible experience, but you're going to grow from it. No fighter wants to stay there for that long. Everyone wants to run away, but guess what? You've got to man up, pay this guy some respect, and do what you're supposed to be doing. It's part of the sport. It's like making weight. You have to stand there if you take that L, 100 percent (it's like in wrestling).

"If you ran off the mat before that guy's got his hand raised, your coaches should be beating your ass. He's got the most experienced damn corner you could have. He's got Greg Jackson, you got the pad holder (Gibson), I love him to death, and Jon Jones. Now, Jon Jones has never lost before. ... So he doesn't even know how to deal with a loss, but the other two guys, they know what you're supposed to be doing. Unless a doctor was pulling him out, those cornermen should have been like, 'Nah, you've got to get back in there.'"

Jon Jones admitted it was his idea for Steveson to leave the cage before the outcome was read so he could make sure he was OK.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ex-champ says cornermen failed Gable Steveson at UFC 331