Bo Nickal is an American former collegiate wrestler who competed for Penn State University. Nickal is widely considered as one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers of all time, having won three NCAA championships and finishing his collegiate career with a record of 120-3.
He also won a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships in freestyle wrestling. After his successful collegiate wrestling career, Nickal has transitioned into mixed martial arts (MMA) and has signed with the UFC after a stint on Dana White’s contender series.
Bo Nickal previously called out Chimaev
Nickal was outspoken about wanting to face Chechen star Khamzat Chimaev previously:
“I just think, first off, this dude talks about he’s ready to go always, he’s a gangster, this and that – bro, you can’t even beat the scale.”
“What are you doing? This is just a dude that has no accountability and doesn’t treat the sport professionally. That makes me way less nervous to fight him in the future, because we’re going to fight. I know he’s not committed like I am. He’s not willing to do the things that I’m willing to do.”
pic.twitter.com/hGJaZ1lc4H https://t.co/Q1Cq5fZ5MK
— Justin Basch (@JustinJBasch) February 8, 2023
And what about Dagestani wrestling?
Nickal was asked about his opinion of Dagestani wrestling style ahead of his debut this weekend at UFC 285 against Jamie Pickett:
“Those guys compete at such a high level, I think that, you know, the way they compete, I enjoy that intensity, I enjoy seeing the way that they structure their training and really the way they live their lives, obviously super disciplined and fully focused, they’re all in on and committed to their goal.”
https://twitter.com/SICKYDOESMMA/status/1631400950714826755?s=20
“And so, you know, that’s something that’s very exciting in the sport to see people that I think honestly have very similar mindset to what I have and a similar mindset to what we preach at Penn State.”
“And so, you know, seeing the way that they compete and how high level they’ve gotten. It’s exciting for me because, you know, I want to take my team at American Top Team Happy Valley and at Penn State and and be the next wave of strong grapplers to come up and start challenging those guys.”
Nickal is a huge favorite heading into the weekend.
UFC welterweight reveals training with Khabib is unlike anything he’s ever experienced
Belal Muhammad previously revealed how different it was to train with Team Khabib compared to any other MMA team during his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience:
“Like everybody under team has that same style, same pressure on top. And I’m feeling, and I’m like, I need to change what I do in Chicago. I need to change what I’m doing because these guys are so dominant with the way they play, the way they grapple. It’s like, they’re doing this to everybody. Nobody’s going to mess with them.”
“For, well, for the mentality, I think is the big thing too. You know, when you’re rolling with somebody new, you’ll get a flow roll with them. ”
“You’ll play around to see how they’re feeling. But then they don’t have that at all. It’s, I’m not going to lose around and not going to lose a minute when I’m going against you.”
”You know, I’m on my back. I’m going to my back, starting my back, and I’m like, I let’s move. So I’m trying to play guard, trying to go for armbars or anything like that and then Khabib’s telling me, ‘Get up, we’re not playing jiu jitsu’.”
“Get up. This is MMA. We’re not playing jiu-jitsu. You’re on your back – you’re losing.”
https://youtu.be/1RUTxfHMono
