Wrestling prodigy Bo Nickal has been called up to Dana White’s Contender Series.
Nickal will face Zachary Borrego on the August 9th broadcast of the UFC feeder competition, one of Borrego’s coaches told the AllStar.
The confirmation came after the UFC roster was updated earlier today, with the two relatively green middleweight fighters added to the list.
We always knew [Zach] was headed there… Bo Nickal is the opponent.
Greg Borrego to The AllStar’s Chris Ferguson
Nickal, who is 1-0 in professional mixed martial arts, made his debut in Jorge Masvidal’s iKon FC promotion earlier this year. The 26-year-old was the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy winner and sported a collegiate wrestling record of 120-3.
The other addition to the roster is the 2-0 Borrego, who also turned pro this year after a spotted amateur career. Borrego posted this image to his instagram story yesterday, showing a Dana White’s Contender Series document.
Given the similar experience levels, it makes sense that the two newcomers will square off against each other on the UFC’s favorite feeder program later this year.
This news comes just three weeks after Nickal appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani revealing he was in talks with the ‘big promotions’, but implied he was committed to developing his skills further before a jump.
“For me, the main thing is development. Again, I’m a 1-0 pro – I don’t have 10-15 fights, like, that level of experience. So, you know, I want to get experience and get fights and continue to build and grow and get better,” he said on the podcast. “Getting me an opponent is tough,” Nickal said.
The AllStar has reached out to Nickal for comment.
