Bo Nickal wishes he would’ve gotten the call to fight Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294. Unfortunately for him, Kamaru Usman took that spot.
The former UFC welterweight champion will be moving up a weight class to fight Chimaev on 10 days notice at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 21. Usman is replacing Brazil’s Paulo Costa, who had to withdraw from the fight with Khamzat due to an infection on his elbow.
Nickal wanted the fight and is a bit upset he wasn’t considered.
“I was a little disappointed they didn’t ask me,” Nickal said on his YouTube channel. “They didn’t ask me to step in there. I was expecting at least an ask like, ‘Hey, you want to do this?’ But no, just nothing from the UFC. It is what it is.
“I’m guessing they didn’t want me to roll into Abu Dhabi on like 10 days’ notice and smash their boy in front of his home crowd. That’s a fight that needs to have proper build up. I get that.”
As far as the fight itself, Nickal expects Usman to put on a competitive fight, even though it may seem that the cards are stacked against him.
“I think it will be competitive based on his last fight against Burns,” Nickal said. “I do think he overlooked Burns, but also Usman, he’s pretty good, a little older. … For Usman, not too much upside, but I think for Usman, he’s already been a champ and defended his belt and then just lost back to back, so he’s not in a great position. But yeah, it should be a good fight.”
