Wyatt Hendrickson‘s incredible, last-minute victory over Gable Steveson at the 2025 NCAA wrestling championships is why people tune into sports. The Air Force-to-Oklahoma State juggernaut mounted what Daniel Cormier termed the “biggest upset” in NCAA wrestling history, and has become a cultural icon after it. This has made many curious and they have one question on their mind. What is next for the Kansas native? Usually, amateur wrestlers either join the WWE with prominent examples being Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle. Meanwhile, a lucky few are signed by NFL teams like Carlton Haselrig and Stephen Neal. But increasingly, the UFC is emerging as another hot destination.

Many high-caliber wrestlers like Daniel Cormier, Randy Couture, the aforementioned Lesnar, and even Jon Jones have been dominant champions. So it was natural for MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin to ask Hendrickson about any possible MMA plans after he is done with his amateur wrestling career.

“I mean I quit football at an early age, my freshman year of high school. I was only 160 pounds at the time. But you know, God gifted me with one body and I want to make sure I take care of it. So obviously, you know, I want to live my life happily. I don’t want to, you know, try to put myself in a situation where I’m putting my life at risk ‘cuz it’s, you know, it’s not worth that much,” Hendrickson said.

Indeed, the Oklahoma State student wanted to become a footballer. However, a couple of concussions and a leg injury early on made him decide to retire from the sport. Needless to say, entering MMA, where getting concussions is part of the job description is not something Hendrickson relishes. However, he didn’t completely shut the door on a possible MMA career and said that he plans on training with some MMA guys shortly to get a feel for the sport.

“You hear people talk about, like ‘Hey would you take a million dollars today?’ They’re like ‘Heck yeah.’ I’m like, ‘Okay well did you take a million dollars but you can’t wake up tomorrow, you know?’ And they’re like ‘Whoa whoa whoa whoa.’ So, you know, every day is worth it to me. So if I’m going to put myself in a situation where that might be at risk, you know, we’ll see,” he added.

“But I think for the foreseeable future, I’m obviously, my wrestling career is going to be a big thing. I might start doing some cross-training. It might be exciting, you know, go do a little bit of training, link up with some MMA people, and maybe just feel it out and see where the next path takes me,” Hendrickson concluded. For the unversed, the Oklahoma State ace is a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force. But if not MMA, what are his future plans?

Wyatt Hendrickson reveals ‘overarching goal’ for next couple of years

Well, as you would expect, after winning the NCAA championship, Hendrickson now wants to compete at the world level. All of that, however, is in service to his ultimate goal. Compete at the 2028 Olympic games!

“There’s still competitions I can compete in to make these World teams so the immediate future is back to training. Now there is a new big goal. Obviously, this year was be a National Champion—well, now the overarching goal for the next couple of years is going to be becoming an Olympic champion,” Hendrickson said.

Safe to say Hendrickson will not be thinking about a change of careers until at least 2028. In the meantime, he will cross-train with some MMA guys. This may open the door to an MMA transition after the Kansas native is done with his Olympic dream. Not to mention, Hendrickson’s coach believes that the athletic heavyweight wrestler would be a natural fit in professional wrestling if that is what he decides to do.

“I think he could be really good in it [the WWE]. He’s a showman. I think he showed that this weekend. What made Gable so unique and special is his wrestling ability is unbelievable. But also, it’s the showmanship side of things that he brought to wrestling that was unique. Wyatt’s is the same. He wins, he’s a pinner, he does a backflip. He’s a 260-pound amazing athlete,” Oklahoma State coach David Taylor told Ariel Helwani. Wyatt Hendrickson, as they say, is spoiled for choice. What do you think about Wyatt Hendrickson’s revelations about his plans?