The UFC's newest signing Bo Nickal believes that he is more dedicated to victory than top welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev, and has no problem letting his feelings be known.
Nickal is a Penn State wrestling prodigy, and has transitioned with ease to MMA by landing three stoppage wins within a minute each this year to earn a UFC contract in record time. Chimaev's is a similar story, and within just 12 professional fights where he has left the second round just once, he is a top contender at both welterweight and middleweight.
The former wrestler has explained that he wants to face Chimaev because he feels that despite his wins in the cage, he can't beat the scale and as such will struggle with a hard-working grappler. To this point, Chimaev has yet to face a really complete wrestler, and struggled over the distance with a jiu-jitsu ace in Gilbert Burns.
He showed up 7.5lb over weight for his fight with Nate Diaz last month at UFC 279, and ended up facing Kevin Holland, who while a renowned striker, is famous for his poor wrestling. And Nickal believes he has the beating of Chimaev if they are to fight already, let alone in a few fights' time.
“I just think, first off, this dude talks about he’s ready to go always, he’s a gangster," Nickal said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. "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. Yeah, he’s talented. Yeah, he has skills. But if that’s how you approach the sport, if that’s how you treat it, we’re on different levels. People will act like I’m talking crazy because I say I’m ready to go, Chimaev, let’s get it.
"But reality is this dude won three national titles in Sweden and then came into MMA and has 10 fights. I’ve been competing since I was five. I had more than 120 NCAA wrestling matches, won an under-23 world championship. I’m coming with 10 times the experience you have.
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"So when people say, ‘You’re not ready, stay in your lane,' y’all don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, so you’ll see what happens once we get in the cage.”
Nickal was dismissed by Chimaev after his callout last week, with the Swede declaring that he didn't know who the wrestler was. But he is confident that his rival does, in fact, know who he is and how their fight would end up going if they were to eventually meet in the cage.
“He knows exactly who I am,” Nickal added. “The only reason he says stuff is because he doesn’t want that fight. He’s going to try and act like he doesn’t know me, this and that. You’ll get to know me. Because at the end of the day, I’m going to keep winning, hopefully you’ll keep winning, and we’ll match up.
"I’m down. Let’s get it. I don’t really see too many people that can deal with his pressure and that are going to be able to take him out. I’m the guy. I’m excited for that opportunity because everybody thinks he’s untouchable and I know he’s not.”
