Henry Cejudo backed Bo Nickal to thrive in wrestling over Khamzat Chimaev.
Nickal is coming off a dominant first-round finish over Donovan Beard at this past Tuesday’s Dana White Contender’s Series. Beard could not get going as a fired-up Nickal submitted him in under a minute. The NCAA Division I wrestler joins the promotion as one of the most-hyped prospects.
Following his sensational win, Nickal called out the top-ranked welterweight contender Chimaev.
Henry Cejudo is confident Bo Nickal can take down Khamzat Chimaev
In a recent video posted on his YouTube channel, Henry Cejudo shared his breakdown of a potential clash between Nickal and Chimaev. He backed the newcomer, who he believes has better wrestling over ‘Borz.’
“Bo Nickal says, ‘I want the Swedish princess, I want the guy that didn’t make weight. That’s the guy that I want.’ I just hope he shows up. It just shows his confidence,” Cejudo said (ht MMA Junkie). “Chimaev thinks he’s good in wrestling – his wrestling is nowhere near Bo Nickal, I can tell you that.
“He can take down these UFC guys that have never wrestled. Try taking Bo Nickal down, and 100 percent I can see Bo Nickal easily taking down Khamzat Chimaev.”
Cejudo sees Nickal as a future champion
According to “Triple C,” it is only a matter of time before Nickal reigns supreme in the middleweight division.
“For those who don’t think Bo Nickal is the real deal, I’m going to tell you guys right now, as an Olympic champ, as a two-division champion, I don’t even wanna say prospect no more, I think it’s just pinning whenever this guy actually becomes champion at 185 pounds,” Cejudo said. “I think if you’re able to put him against Israel Adesanya now, just according to styles, Bo Nickal beats him. He puts him to his back, controls his wrists, grapples the heck out of him, and that’s all she wrote.”
Nickal has a lot of hype behind him and he’s been able to back it up so far. He seems to be wasting no time as he got booked to make his promotional debut against Jamie Pickett for UFC 282 in December.
