Bo Nickal, a three-time NCAA champion from Penn State, is keen on a showdown with undefeated middleweight Khamzat Chimaev, and believes his wrestling skills and continuous improvement make him a strong contender for the UFC championship.
Bo Nickal’s got his sights set on the middleweight division. He’s particularly intrigued by the prospect of a face-off with the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
Both men share a wrestling and grappling background. Nickal, a three-time NCAA champ from Penn State, feels a clash with Chimaev is inevitable. Especially now that Chimaev, a native of Chechnya, is competing full-time at 185 pounds.
Chimaev’s recent victory over ex-UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 seems to have secured him a title shot. “An interesting matchup,” Nickal mused about the fight on The MMA Hour. “Both 170-pounders fighting at 185. There’s always some volatility, some unknowns there when guys are up a weight.”
Nickal observed that Chimaev started strong. “First round, he looked lights out. Got Usman on the ground, held him down, beat him up. He was close to finishing a couple of times, then kind of slowed. The pace slowed for both of them as the rounds went on.”
Nickal would’ve preferred a five-round fight. “Usman on short notice felt three rounds was the better option for him, but it looked like he was the fresher guy at the end of the fight.”
Chimaev’s known for his fast starts. This accounts for his eight first-round finishes across his 13-0 overall career record. He started strong against Usman too, but then began to slow down. Usman, the former welterweight champ, seized the opportunity to make a comeback.
Nickal sees positives and negatives in Chimaev’s performance. “He’s got great grappling, likes to overwhelm guys, he’s definitely very strong, very aggressive. But I also saw a few holes where Usman took advantage of him.”
Nickal views every fight as a learning experience. “I try to download all of that info and take it into my training so I can be ready when the time comes.”
In the end, Chimaev won. But Nickal saw enough to know he could take down the middleweight boogeyman. “He’s a tough guy, of course,” Nickal said of Chimaev. “But at the same time, I believe in myself and I think my skills match up very well against him. I feel like that’s a fight that I win.”
Despite his relative inexperience, Nickal is confident. He’s only had five MMA fights and his third UFC appearance is booked against Cody Brundage at UFC 300 in April. But he has no doubts about his ability to compete with the best.
“My wrestling ability is a huge X factor,” Nickal explained. “Every single guy has to prepare for me so differently than they would for any other fighter. I’m getting better every single day. A lot of these guys are older, they’re deep in their careers, whereas I’m just starting, I’m getting better. There’s a clear path for me to the belt.”
Nickal’s goal? To be a UFC champion, No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. “I’m not really planning right now for beating Cody Brundage. Of course, that’s part of the training, but my main plan is to get that belt, defend my belt 10 times. That’s what I’m looking to do. You see the path, I see the path, I think everybody sees it. That’s why there’s as much hype as there is on me.”