Laugh as you will, but Bo Nickal wasn’t kidding when he called out Khamzat Chimaev.
After another highlight reel first-round finish on Dana White’s Contender Series, the newest middleweight on the UFC roster is unshakable confident he’s up to the task; but understands that, realistically, there’s little chance he’ll face ‘Borz’ in his promotional debut. Nonetheless, Nickal fancies his chances in such a matchup.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about as far as kidding,” Nickal told reporters at the Contender Series post-fight press conference. “I feel like that’s a good matchup for me. He’s obviously a high-level grappler, high-level fighter. He’s one of the top fighters not only in his division, but in the UFC. I have a lot of respect for his skills but I also know what I’m about. So yeah. At some point. I’m making my UFC debut. He’s probably fighting for the title soon. So am I going to get that fight? Probably not. But I’m ready to go. It will happen in the future. I’ll be more than prepared then.”
“He’s good without a doubt, You can’t take that away from him. He’s got skills and he does a lot of things really well. That being said, ask anybody who knows anything about wrestling and who watches the sport and studies it and puts time into it – I’m one of the best wrestlers in the world. You can go in the Penn State room, still to this day, without having wrestled a year-and-a-half, I’m still right there. There’s just a different level there.
“It’s like the same thing as putting a high-level jiu-jitsu guy in the UFC and in an ADCC competition. Yeah, I’m good at wrestling. I’m world class. It’s different. Again, respect to him. Respect again. I respect his skills, but I also know what I’m about.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- UFC Vegas 61: Yan Xiaonan doesn’t care about proving Chinese doubters wrong, vows victory will be ‘for myself’
- UFC Vegas 61: Randy Costa to nullify the threats, put Guido Cannetti’s lights out
- UFC Vegas 61: UFC Vegas 61 is Mike Davis’ coming out party, wants four fights a year in the future
- UFC Vegas 61: Philipe Lins feels his jiu-jitsu will overpower Maxim Grishin at UFC Vegas 61
- Bellator: Johnny Eblen open to fighting Yoel Romero – “I would love to take out another legend”
The best of the rest
- DWCS Season 6: Week 10 Results – MMAFighting.com
- Edson Barboza injured, out of UFC Vegas 63 fight with Ilia Topuria – MMAFighting.com
- Invicta FC 49 fighter Helen Peralta takes shot at Disney in unorthodox weigh-in protest – MMAJunkie.com
- Henry Cejudo skeptical of Conor McGregor not being tested by USADA: ‘Of course he’s on that sh*t’ – MMAJunkie.com
- Aspen Ladd removed from UFC roster after latest weight miss – BloodyElbow.com
The soapbox
MMA Twitter reacts to Bo Nickal’s Contender Series win & UFC Contract:
The morning view
Get your dose of MMA History with This Week in Combat Sports featuring Ben ‘The Bane’ Davis:
Matt Frevola breaks down Oliveira vs Makhachev:
Relive the hype of Bo Nickal’s contract winning performance:
A look back on MTV’s Bully Beatdown:
MMA On Point rehashes ten times hometown heroes actually won:
Done deals
Wednesday:
- Jose Johnson to fight Vince Morales at UFC Vegas 65 on November 19th (per Alex Behunin)
Tuesday
- Brandon Moreno vs Deiveson Figueiredo in the works for UFC 283 on Jan 21st (per Rodrigo Gonzalez)
Monday
- Derrick Lewis to fight Serghei Spivac at UFC Vegas 65 on November 19th (per UFC)
- Chris Curtis to fight Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Iridium Sports)
- Gabriel Bonfim to fight Mounir Lazzez at UFC 283 on January 21st (per Iridium Sports)
- Yamato Nishikawa replaces J. Mullarkey to fight Magomed Mustafaev at UFC 280 on October 22nd (per MMA Fight Universe)
On this day in MMA…
On the 28th of September, 2001, UFC 33: Victory in Vegas took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dana White once labeled this card as the ‘worst show’ the UFC has ever had.
Featuring three title fights, and names such as Chuck Liddell, Matt Serra, Tito Ortiz, and Jens Pulver, the pay-per-view event was expected to deliver. It did not.
Of all three title fights, as well as both Liddell and Serra’s regular bouts, none ended before the final horn – it was the first time a ‘main card’ had seen no finishes in the history of the organisation.
