There is a new young gun in the UFC, and his name is Bo Nickal.
All eyes were on Bo Nickal on Tuesday night as he tried for the second time to earn a contract with the UFC. The Contender Series is a great way for young fighters to showcase their skills and earn a UFC contract. Nickal had a lot of hype surrounding him coming into his first appearance on The Contender Series. Despite a win, he did not receive the contract right away. Dana White invited him back a second time and this time there was no denying the former collegiate wrestling champ.
Nickal was matched up with CFFC middleweight champion Donovan Beard in his second appearance on the series. With all the pressure on him, Nickal was able to get the job done in the first round. He submitted Beard by a triangle choke at just 52 seconds of round 1. This performance was too much to deny this time and although Nickal is only 3-0 in MMA, he earned himself a place among the best fighters in the world.
Bo Nickal is already looking ahead to big matchups
Following his big win, Nickal made some giant predictions for his future. Nickal believes that he will be the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC in just a few short years. He plans to get there by taking out the best and has already made some callouts. Immediately following the win he called for Khamzat Chimaev. When asked backstage at the event if that was a joke or not, he replied no, he truly believes the two will meet one day.
“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,” Nickal said per MMA Junkie. “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.”
Chimaev is ranked high up in the welterweight division and Nickal has yet to make his debut, so the odds of them meeting anytime soon is unlikely. However, Nickal is high on himself and has lofty goals to pursue, even if that includes facing the best of the best one day.
