Legendary MMA referee John McCarthy has likened the UFC's newest star Bo Nickal to Conor McGregor after he vowed to retire if not put on the main card for his promotional debut.
Nickal has taken the sport by storm since making his professional bow earlier this year, landing a contract with the UFC within just three fights and less than as many minutes. He has already called out top title contender Khamzat Chimaev, and recently insisted that he be put on pay-per-view at UFC 282 in December.
He will face promotional veteran Jamie Pickett in his first fight under the UFC banner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the main event still to be announced for the December 10 event. Pickett has more experience in the cage than all three of Nickal's previous opponents put together.
"I love the fact that he's got the confidence he has and he's making these statements," McCarthy explained during an episode of his podcast Weighing In with Josh Thompson. "That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to believe in yourself and you're supposed to be able to go out there and tell your promoter, 'Hey, I ain't the f***ing guy you put on the prelims. I'm your f***ing main card, main event guy. I'm the guy people are going to watch'.
"Who else is going to be out there tooting your horn for you? This is what Conor did, and a lot of people are sitting there for a long time not liking what Conor is doing now, that's up to them, but Conor became who he is and what he has done based upon opening his mouth, saying 'I'm going to do this' and then going out and doing it.
"When he was doing it he was called Mystic Mac and everything, this is what Bo Nickal is kind of starting right now. He's got to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. But he has the talent to make that walk."
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Nickal faces an interesting test in his debut against Pickett, who is 13-8 as a professional, meaning he has fought seven times more than Nickal including a record of 2-4 in the UFC. The wrestling prodigy is already eyeing up bigger names, but will have to be careful not to get ahead of himself with his demands.
"Am I a prelim guy?" Nickal scoffed when host Ariel Helwani suggested the possibility that he would start on the undercard of UFC 282 on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. "I'm not a prelim guy, if I have to fight on the prelims I'll just retire, I'm done. I don't know if it's in the contract, but they'll do the right thing, the smart thing.
"Like I said, if I'm on the prelims I'll retire - I'm out. I've seen them do it before, put a bigger fight on the prelims, but I don't know, I'm a main card guy. It just doesn't make sense. It's Dana White's Contender Series, but I'm main eventing there at 2-0. Every fight I'm in is the main event, so they're putting me on the main card."
