Bo Nickal sees Khamzat Chimaev fighting for UFC gold in his next fight, despite not thinking he warrants the title shot.
The UFC middleweight prospect is convinced that the UFC will give Chimaev a chance to challenge for the belt in his next outing, even if that means he’s not the immediate next challenger for champion Dricus Du Plessis. Nickal sees Adesanya as the front-runner for the next shot at 185 pounds, but after that, he sees Chimaev getting his turn.
“I would guess that they will do Adasanya, but they’re going to give Khamzat a title shot at some point,” Nickal said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t think that he’s going to have to fight again until he gets a title shot.
“Do I think he deserves that? No. I don’t think he’s fought a single 85er. He’s fought less 85ers than me, and my guys aren’t even in the roster anymore.”
In terms of the middleweight title fight this past weekend at UFC 297 in Toronto, Nickal thought Strickland did enough to retain his belt – even though he acknowledges it was a closely contested fight.
“I had it 3-2 Sean. I thought Sean won (Rounds) 1,2 and 5,” Nickal said. “Round 2 was the most questionable round for me. It really could’ve gone either way, but I felt Sean edged him out. I think he clearly won Rounds 1 and 5. I think Dricus clearly won 3 and 4, so it was basically what I had said. A lot of people were asking me, ‘Oh, how is the fight going to go?’ and I was like, ‘Dude, it’s a 50-50 fight. It’s at 50-50 as it gets.’
“Sean, I don’t see him as a knockout power guy and he doesn’t have takedowns. He’s going to come out and box you and teep and have good defense. Dricus has a little more firepower, I guess. He’s got little wilder shots, has more power throws more varied attacks, and has more takedowns. Both are tough guys and they came in shape. Strickland definitely didn’t put the pace he normally does, I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the pressure of being champion, maybe he didn’t have a good camp. Whatever it is, he didn’t have the normal pace he normally has.”
