Bo Nickal is one of the few fighters confirmed to be competing on the highly-anticipated UFC 300 card next year.
The elite wrestler has displayed insane growth in the sport despite being incredibly green in mixed martial arts. His NCAA Division I Wrestling background will always be a huge factor in any future success of his, but the prospect has come leaps and bounds with his striking in the past couple of years.
While sitting down with Joe Rogan for an episode of the JRE Podcast, Bo Nickal discussed when he began honing his striking skills and how far he’s come in such a short time.
“I had a buddy, a good buddy. He is actually the boxing coach now at my gym. He was a collegiate national champion in boxing and I did, like pads with him over COVID, like once or twice. But I really started actually training striking, like getting into it.”
“I started MMA training full-time [in] August of 2021. That’s when I started training.” Nickal said about his lack of experience on the feet. “I feel like I just like it, it’s fun. So I study it a lot, I’m always watching film.”
Nickal is one of the few unranked fighters in the sport that fans are confident will one day challenge for a UFC title. He then went on to discuss his most recent performance inside the octagon in his victory over Val Woodburn.
“I did what I was supposed to do, you know. And I feel like I was just excited that I got a fight.” Nickal said after his original opponent Tresean Gore pulled out of their bout. “He hurt his wrist or something but honestly, as soon as they announced it, I had a feeling.”
“The new guy came in and I was just, like I said, grateful I got a fight. Yeah, you know, the actual fight, the plan was to take him down, sub him, you know? Of course, that’s my wheelhouse. But I have great, great coaches, you know. For striking I work with, the dude I was telling you, his name’s Moose. Collegiate national champion boxing.”
“I got like the ultimate cheat code with wrestling. So use that to my advantage, whatever it looks like. Whether it’s actually wrestling, take a guy down, hold him down. Or whether it’s the threat of it. And that’s where I feel like it’s such a psychological battle where the guy’s so worried.”
“I hit him [Val Woodburn] and I saw him wobble. I was like, in my mind, you’re making so many decisions in that split second, but I was thinking, ‘Okay, I can take him down, I could back off, or just go in for the kill.’ And that’s just my nature to like, go for the kill. So then [I] just took him out.”
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Having competed just twice in the UFC with each outing not making it past the first round, the 27-year-old has his sights set on ideally what’s next for him.
“No opponent yet, but I’m going to fight at UFC 300,” Nickal said about the date of his next walk to the octagon. “Yeah, I’m fired up. That’s going to be fun.”
“So I would like to fight this fight and next fight, I would like to get somebody that’s maybe right outside the rankings. Right in there, in the mix. And hopefully, that’ll be ideally July… And then I would like to, after that, obviously, fight a ranked guy.”
“I told my manager, I was like if they could book me for UFC Miami in March and go again in April. Because I feel like, whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to kill them, so let’s do it. But they were like, ‘They don’t really do that. So you can either do the UFC Miami card and hopefully, maybe something will fall out and you’ll get there or you can guarantee yourself on 300.'”
“I really want to fight on UFC 300, so let’s just do that. So that’s April… I don’t want to plan too far ahead because who knows what happens in MMA, right? But after that, I’m ready to go. If I finish the guy again, let’s go again.”
Watch Bo Nickal’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience below.
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/bo-nickal-confident-hell-kill-next-opponent-discusses-ideal-timeline-after-ufc-300