Before Ikram Aliskerov stepped up to fight Robert Whittaker on short notice, the promotion tried to book Bo Nickal.
That comes according to the three-time NCAA Division I National Champion who revealed on his YouTube channel that the UFC attempted to contact him once they knew Khamzat Chimaev was “violently ill” and out of the UFC Saudi Arabia headliner.
Sadly, Nickal was in the mountains of Montana with no cell reception and didn’t realize what was going on until it was already too late.
“I did get a call. Unfortunately, I got a call when I was in the mountains of Montana and I didn’t get back to cell service for three days,” Nickal said. “So, I came back into cell service to a few text messages saying, ‘Call me back, call me back, call me back,’ and it was too late. And I’m not gonna like disclose numbers, but they were up there. But it was just too late.
“I couldn’t even really consider it because they had already kind of figured everything out, the way they were gonna do it, because I was gone… Honestly, I don’t really wanna go to Saudi Arabia and fight, like that’s freaking far as crap.”
After a slew of cancelations, illnesses, and one very brutal weight miss, Nickal believes that ‘Borz’ is beginning to lose his “aura” despite still clinging onto his undefeated record.
“That dude’s losing his aura a bit,” Nickal said. “He just needs to keep frickin’ winning and not doing this crap. … That’s what I do, just don’t get sick. … I don’t think he’s overtraining, I think he’s overpartying. I don’t know, probably. What else could it be? … I’ve just heard rumors about him and (Darren) Till, crazy stuff.”
Bo Nickal Believes Ikram Aliskerov Will Pull Off the Upset
Considering his longstanding rivalry with Khamzat Chimaev, it should be no surprise that the former Nittany Lion was favoring Robert Whittaker to come out on top. But now that Aliskerov is stepping in, Nickal isn’t so sure ‘The Reaper’ comes out on top.
“I was [favoring Whittaker against Chimaev] too given the scenario and stuff,” Nickal said. “But I don’t know man, depends on how ready he [Aliskerov] is and stuff. I just think that style-wise Ikram will probably win.”
Nickal is a perfect 6-0 in his mixed martial arts career with his last three victories all coming under the UFC banner. He last competed at UFC 300 in April where he scored a second-round submission over Cody Brundage via a rear-naked choke. It was his first time fighting beyond the first round.
