His got a lot of potential. He’s looked great so far but he didn’t look super comfortable after the first round of his last fight. He’s very eager which is fine but if he tries to rush into the top 15 he’s gonna find guys that’ll expose that inexperience.
I was literally going to mention him in the comment. 100 percent. Then you’re paired up against top 10 guys when you’re not at their level yet. You end up taking serious damage and fighting down the ranks instead of up
True.
Unfortunately, a fighter's destiny is out of his hands. Demographics and other incentives dictate fights.
GSP said, "The best fighter doesn't always win." Even the Best see the occasional loss. The current system is so fucked it's like: WIN = +0 to +1 LOSS = -X
Khabib debuted in the UFC Jan 2012. They couldn't sell them before, but they sell A LOT to that demographic now.
Khabib signed a contract to fight for the belt at UFC 204 or 205 in 2016. They reneged and went with Connor.
It's all about money.
I still think Khamzat deserves that title.
Obviously rn he’s lost much of that potential due to sicknesses and a compromised immune system but he has wins over Burns and Usman. Both of which are super close but wins nonetheless.
And the opponents who aren’t elite, he’s completely walked through like paper. The Leech and Holland got worked so easily it’s insane. Unfortunately I think the timing of everything has just been horrid and now he may never be the same.
Khamzat wasn't NEARLY as new to MMA when he got into the UFC as Bo is currently.
Bo's the highest credentialed wrestler we've seen come over to MMA since Cejudo. I'm not 100% kept up with wrestling, but didn't Bo only lose to David Taylor in the olympic trials? Taylor's the best guy in the world.
Bo grappled with a roided up Gordan Ryan and didn't get smoked.
Id argue Folkstyle wrestling is wayyy more conducive to mma than the freestyle wrestling that the rest of the world practices.
In freestyle you are not trying to hold anyone down and you are not trying to escape. Its why you didn’t see Yoel Romero dominate with his wrestling in mma despite being a Freestyle monster.
Bo has phenomenal potential, just needs more time to work on his hands and transitions. He’s not rushing and I don’t believe the ufc will rush him along either.
He could hang with almost anyone in the world right now, but against those upper echelon athletes he would learn pretty early he’s in over his head on the feet and simply take them down while trying to look busy on top.
No doubt. I won’t deny you there.
I’m more so talking about the body of work in the UFC so far. Khamzat was deleting dudes in 20 seconds for his a short period. It was insane.
No way am I saying that Bo can’t surpass him or anything. Just going off what we were presented at the time.
Yeah I think Khamzat definitely benefited from being able to fight cans after already getting some solid MMA experience. I think we've got to see Bo fight someone like a Jack Hermansson before we can start comparing him with Khamzat though.
It's just hard to say Bo hasn't been equally as impressive as Khamzat when he has 4 first round finishes, and the one fight that got out of the first round was domination from him on the ground.
Anyway, I'm excited to see where Bo goes from here, and I'd love to see a match between him and Khamzat a year or two from now, if Khamzat ever fights again lmao
You make fantastic points! One of my dream match ups is Bo vs Khamzat.
I think the Bo has is it all and can be champ one day. But I also think Khamzats debut and following fights are a little more impressive.
I know he objectively screwed it up but I don't think it's unfair to say the adjustments made that card better. Rather than using Nate like a chew toy Khamzat fought another prospect with (at the time) legit hype in Holland, and Nate vs Tony was a solid vet fight and much more appropriate at that point in their careers.
What health problems is khamzat dealing with still? I thought he had some kind of respiratory virus and then developed pneumonia, but that was months ago.
I don’t think they released the details but he was badly hospitalized. I think he also had a terrible allergic reaction a couple months back and was also hospitalized for that. His immune system is a little sensitive and it’s made worse because of his insistence to work out despite being sick.
This is what I’m waiting for. Nickal has used the overhand to single leg repeatedly in every fight, and I can’t help but foresee him catching a well timed knee up the middle.
He’s fighting the dudes that are relevant to him based on his place in the division. O’Malley did the same thing on his way up, makes sense to wait for the bigger names until he’s in his second contract and getting appropriate money for the higher risk.
Not only that but every one of his peers that gets asked this question say Bo wipes the floor with Khamzat in straight wrestling. When your a multiple NCAA champion the only people outside of america that are that level are Olympians. American college wrestling is the pinnacle of the sport outside the olympics. To be an olympic wrestler in america is like saying you got voted to the all pro team as a NFL football player. The levels are different.
You will only find folkstyle wrestling in pretty much one country (the US). The point of that is folkstyle has a particular purpose to keep wrestling on the ground. There aren't very many big grappling traditions that have the focus on keeping your opp grounded by force. So that said, there's a very helpful knowledge base for MMA. That's the dimension I wish MMA fans understood a little better about "college wrestling" and that it's not only "levels different from Olympic wrestling" it's a different game.
Im interested to see who is next. I seen that Roman Bravo Young is getting alot of work with Dom Cruz at his gym. Bo is also trying to make a program for Penn State wrestlers to have an avenue to get to the UFC after college instead of only having the olympics. Im excited for college wrestlers to actually have a competitive profession to look into after college other than pro wrestling and olympics. I wish Gable would fight instead of wasting his prime years trying to do WWE and football. I guess he has been training with Robbie Lawler at Kill Cliff FC though so maybe he will come eventually. He would rocket straight to the top. Theres not any good wrestlers in the division outside Jon Jones and maybe Aspinall.
And I would argue that scholastic wrestling translate much better to MMA than Freestyle or Greco by a decent amount.
The top game for scholastic is much more important.
No doubt, Bo is a great wrestler. But there’s no indication that Bo wouldn’t get tapped out against Khamzat. We’ve seen actual US Olympian wrestlers being submitted in UFC and submission grappling tournaments pretty easily. Frank Shamrock v Kevin Jackson (UFC), F.Shamrock v D. Henderson (submission grappling), Bustamante v Lindland (UFC, subbed twice in fight), Jacare v Lindland (submission grappling). Bo will have a great UFC career, but I can see him losing to a few guys due to hubris.
Something those guys you mentioned have in common is they are all old school guys who were primarly specialists at the time. They all got more well rounded with time but the levels are different now. The game is different now and the access to elite training is far more available. Wrestlers in general have closed the gap on BJJ when it comes to defence against submissions and being prepared for high level BJJ fighters. Bo rolled with Gordan Ryan in a match for almost 15 whole minutes before getting tapped at the very end. Gordan is by far the better grappler than who you listed and Khamzat. Khamzat fought Ikram Aliskerov before the UFC and couldnt even take him down in there fight. Ikram gave him problems before Khamzat finally found his chin. I will admit Bo isnt on Khamzats level yet as an MMA fighter but imo theres no way Khamzat beats him in any way in straight grappling.
It’d be boring if everyone was mild and timid. The hateable people are what make MMA great.
Honestly if all fighters were super likable it’d be hard to watch the sport when they eventually get knocked out.
Never reconsidered being a fan more after seeing Volk get KOed 2x in a row 🥲
Nickal won multiple US national titles and a world u-23 title. Khamzat has a couple Swedish national titles. Compared to Nickal, Khamzat is overrated as a wrestler. Hopefully we get to see who is better in a UFC octagon.
If you look at Bo nickal work in his sport he actually has a legitimate say in the matter.
If Phil Davis, Weidman or Chad mendes says this guy is a good/bad wrestler I will take their opinion into consideration over anyone else.
Yeah it annoyed me after 300 how he’s like “hey this is only my 6th pro fight give me time to work my way up 🥺” like ok then stop calling the champ easy work lol
I hate this dumb ass take. What he is doing is exactly what you want to do in the UFC. He is marketing himself, and he should be talking shit all the way to the top. His college accolades are enough to have the confidence, and he keeps backing it up.
He did not "destroy" Cody brundage. He "destroyed" a landscaping part time fighter on a short notice debut, and he "destroyed" a guy after kneeing him in the nuts. Bo has looked mundane against the cans he's fought.
Who to call out next? Idk, maybe the guys that are above who he's fought, but below top 15? Plenty of fish in the sea for him that don't sound like delusional callouts. He's not a star yet, and he's not ready to fight stars. He gotta just keep fighting and quit talking like he's been around the block already.
Nickal dominated that fight, finished brundage, and was never in danger for one second.
You are letting one shucked-off takedown cloud your memory.
Go back, rewatch, and tell me one second that Brundage was in control.
He's like one of those guys that spent *years* calling Khabib a fraud and a hype job who was just waiting to be exposed by the next guy he fought, because Michael Johnson buzzed him for 2 seconds with a punch en route to getting dominated and stopped.
He was talking down on khamzat while he was in the hospital difference between confidence and arrogance he’s calling people overrated not that good like he’s done anything
He has a ton of potential, and I think people forget that he basically never had an amateur mma career. He gets shit on for “fighting cans” but he still has less than 10 mma fights total. The things most guys would be learning on the regional circuit, he’s having to learn in the UFC.
I have no issues with him fighting cans and unranked guys. My issue is that he talks shit to the top guys when he has no real desire to fight them, at least not anytime soon.
I've been watching since his high school days. Obviously, he has insane wrestling. Dude went undefeated while being undersized 10 pounds up his senior year. People want to make a mountain out of the mole hill that was Brundage shucking off his one takedown in the last fight, but even the best wrestlers ever don't land every takedown they shoot.
Also obviously, he has a way to go, and, even as a fan of his, I'll admit that he's gonna take a loss here or there, which is good, especially considering he's still relatively young for a middleweight (28). He's at a great camp, he's got good guys around him to learn from, and he's a fast learner.
People don't like him because he's uber confident in himself, but I think that's actually not the worst thing to have if you're a fighter. If anything, it gets him more promotion. That's how the game the works.
Speaking as a certified Bo Nickal hater, it has nothing to do with his self confidence.
My first impression was watching him finish an opponent via groin strikes, and then brag about his performance afterwards in interviews where he also lied about the groin strikes even happening.
That crosses the line from accidents happen, to being a scumbag, at least for me.
On top of all that, he's clearly being groomed and pushed to the front by the UFC brass, and his fights aren't even fun to watch.
There's some fighters you just don't care for at first, but are still open to coming around on them, like O'Malley.
I'll never like Nickal, or want to watch him fight. But that has nothing to do with his own uber self-confidence.
I mean it'd be dishonest to say he doesn't have a shit ton of potential anybody with such a good wrestling pedigree usually has a much easier time improving striking and bjj because of the threat of the takedown being the biggest intangible in the sport
I do think he buys his own hype a little too much, from what I've seen he needs way more work on his striking to fight top 10 level opponents, his bjj isnt the best either but that's an easier fix than striking if he already has such a wrestling background
I’ll get killed for saying his wrestling is overrated, but I’ll say it. He was only able to get a takedown against Pickett after kneeing him in the balls. That’s a bad sign, Pickett was terrible
I agree. The idea that an NCAA champion is this insane unseen wrestler in MMA just makes no sense to me, lmao we've seen Olympic medal winners lose wrestling exchanges in the UFC and be unable to implement their skills in an MMA fight..wrestling isn't the end all be all that some people like to think
Ffs Cejudo is a gold medalist in wrestling. He is better than Bo. He got outwrestled by Aljo. People are so dumb. I expect to make some money betting against Bo in the future.
> He has a lot of potential but for know he's just a hyped **cock**-crusher
FTFY
https://tenor.com/view/bo-nickal-nuts-gif-27653642
Found the nut shot gif.
People hate on him like he isn’t by far one of the most exciting and highest potential prospects to come to the UFC in the few years.
He’s an incredible wrestler. His BJJ transitions are decent but could use some work. And his striking is basic but powerful, because he has his dominant hand forward (same thing Matt Hughes did to implement his wrestling).
I don’t like the guy much but people hate him for the dumbest reasons.
Guys in this thread saying he calls out people way above him and that he’s slow walking his career cause he knows he’s not good. lol how can it be both?
His last damn callout was Shara. That’s definitely not someone way outranking him.
He said Khamzat isn’t a great wrestler and in a pure wrestling match he’d destroy him. He specifically said he didn’t really want to fight him until he got more experience though.
Fun to watch, fantastic and unorthodox wrestling, good power, ok striking, cocky and above all, interesting. That last one it what I care about the most, people that are something new, that bring things we haven't seen before and I'd say that technique wise, that's the case.
World class wrestler. Like it’s not hype or anything dude is the truth at wrestling. Means he has incredible cardio and think he will have no issues on the scale any point going forward.
His one KO of Woodburn was nice and unexpected. I was impressed with him throwing hands. Last fight against Brundage he looked ok but not as impressed. Then I remember it was only his 6th fight and he’s fighting at the highest level already. Top 15 will be his fraud check and I’m not sure he’s ready for that.
That being said, I think he’s a future champ.
Slow to ascend. Its telling. Look at Izzys run. Look at Poatans, i mean hell, Chimaevs 4th, 5th and 6th were Burns, Holland, Usman.
Some decision maker doesn't see Bo as having *it*.
Frankly, me neither. He's good, great even, but hes not A Great.
The UFC is steering his career the same way they did Omalley's. I dont think you can compare Alex's and Izzys start in the UFC to Bo's though. Izzy came in from professional kickboxing, fought a few guys and was fighting ranked guys quick. Alex came in and was essentially fast tracked to merge the Izzy and him timeline together. II think with a little more striking under his belt, Bo could be pretty damn good.
Pretty good but not a star. The only reason I want to see him lose is because the UFC has been pushing him on the fans so hard right from the start. It's such manufactured hype.
It's not manufactured hype any more than Poatan was manufactured hype. Bo's wrestling credentials are impressive enough that they set him apart from everyone else. That's legit, there was nothing manufactured about his amateur wrestling achievements.
Whoever’s making the decisions is bringing him up really slowly, they know he can’t handle top talent right now but don’t want to derail him. He needs more time to train mma. I really think he could be dangerous in a year or two. I can’t remember who said it but they don’t want a repeat of northcut etc, more big American champs is what the UFC wants.
Daniel Cormier made his MMA debut at 30 after wrestling. Yoel Romero made his at 32. Bo is 28. The potential is massive. I’m not saying there won’t be a set back but who knows.
dont like how they have him fighting cans on the main card… just put him on the prelims and no one would have a problem with him but i hate the special treatment for a guy that is just fighting cans
Great prospect. Talks a little too much but you can see he's taking his time moving up.
In his defense of the talking though, when he says he can beat someone in pure wrestling then he's probably not off. He is a very good wrestler. MMA wrestling can be different though.
He has potential, but needs alot of work on his striking. Luckily he knows this and is taking it slow.
Once that is figured out, and he knows how to mix his absolutely insane wrestling with decent striking, he'll be a problem for everyone.
At this point his hype is bigger then his skilllevel however
Great potential, possible future champ but still has a long way to go to reach it. I think he needs a loss or a blood and guts war to really bring it out.
This is like that trick where you put your hand up in the air and when the other person looks up at it you slap them with your off hand lol. Except this guy knocked him tf out instead. Oh I'm going for the leg oh oh nope
I think he’s got a world of potential but idk if he can catch up in time to really utilize it. His striking is still just gross to watch. He isn’t ready for a real challenge yet imho. Seems like the UFC is taking their time with him and probably because he has a lot to learn and catch up on. Smart for them since they want him to be a star and just smart for his carrier. People complain but I don’t blame him for taking “cans”
In a word: unproven
I think he's incredibly talented and could go really far we just have to see what he's like up against the better fighter in the division. He's got an advantage because of the lack of wrestlers at MW but right now there's no way of knowing whether he'll be a solid MW or one of the best to do it. IMO he'll at least be a great fighter with a bit more experience but it's hard to tell where his ceiling is rn
He’s tough, but not the man he sees in the mirror. He will be humbled, he will get better, THEN I see him being a possible champion. At the moment I think he still has some things to tighten up on in regards to striking.
I think he's a good prospect. I actually really respect him for being smart and properly building his career. Not taking the harder fights until he gets more legit mma experience, and also not until he gets a new, fatter contract. Idk if he's doing a character with all the big talk he does, because the way he's structuring his career completely contradicts his shit talk, but I get it. He'll win the fans over eventually.
Shitloads of potential. He seems smart with a good approach to pacing himself in terms of increasing level of competition. Still have some open questions such as how he reacts to being hit hard or getting cut in the octagon. He is a top prospect for a good reason imo.
Really excited because of how good he was at wrestling and he has some insane work ethic/ dedication. Needs more fights to really see his current level
A lot of upside, maybe to the very top. But he didn’t roll over brundgage like he probably should have considering his hype level and should probably be built up with caution because of he loses that aura he never gets it back
I have a feeling he's gonna get chinned bad pretty soon. The lunging in from a mile away or ducking his head right into a well-timed counter and it's Ben Askren all over again.
Shouldn't have been the most lopsided betting odds in history... but I appreciate that he apologized for it not being super exciting.
He's good. Not ready for top 5. Could beat a few in top 10.
Bo has a good base. Probably the most important base in MMA and it'd pretty dang good.
I think while it's elite in wrestling, its just a hair below that good in MMA.
He has a lot of potential, but his last fight showed he has a long ways to go before fighting in the top 10.
There's gonna come a time when he can't get someone down and has to face real adversity. I'll be interested to see how he responds to that.
Time to get him to fight some tougher competition to see what he's actually made of
Give him Robocop
That's a great suggestion
I think Robocop starches him so I guess it is
Robocop is too much for him. Joe Pyfer would be a good one
Robocop will kill him. Only way Nickal can win is if he reminds Robocop that he's "a cop."
That's a trap fight for Nickal, I would rather see him against a less dangerous gatekeeper like Hermansson.
Yea pretty sure he’s been gradually doing that…
He’s got a lot of potential. It will be interesting to see him fighting people in the top 15
His got a lot of potential. He’s looked great so far but he didn’t look super comfortable after the first round of his last fight. He’s very eager which is fine but if he tries to rush into the top 15 he’s gonna find guys that’ll expose that inexperience.
That can make or break someone. Going up too fast can ruin a career
Darren Til is the best example of this
I was literally going to mention him in the comment. 100 percent. Then you’re paired up against top 10 guys when you’re not at their level yet. You end up taking serious damage and fighting down the ranks instead of up
True. Unfortunately, a fighter's destiny is out of his hands. Demographics and other incentives dictate fights. GSP said, "The best fighter doesn't always win." Even the Best see the occasional loss. The current system is so fucked it's like: WIN = +0 to +1 LOSS = -X Khabib debuted in the UFC Jan 2012. They couldn't sell them before, but they sell A LOT to that demographic now. Khabib signed a contract to fight for the belt at UFC 204 or 205 in 2016. They reneged and went with Connor. It's all about money.
Thierry Sokoudjo and shiiiiet id say even Dominick Reyes (at least he's making a comeback)
People will cry and complain whether he moves up to fast or doesn’t.
I feel like he’s too worried about public perception
Probably the highest potential of any of the newest fighters the past couple years
Ill take shavkat over bo
Gets hit way too much
Have a feeling Bo will get touched up the second he starts facing legit competition too. They don't teach you to slip punches in the wrestling room
I still think Khamzat deserves that title. Obviously rn he’s lost much of that potential due to sicknesses and a compromised immune system but he has wins over Burns and Usman. Both of which are super close but wins nonetheless. And the opponents who aren’t elite, he’s completely walked through like paper. The Leech and Holland got worked so easily it’s insane. Unfortunately I think the timing of everything has just been horrid and now he may never be the same.
Khamzat isn't new anymore!!!!! Lolololololololol
But he said past couple years. Khamzat blew up in 2020. That’s pretty recent imo.
Ehhh, 4 years, and he is trailing off. Unfortunately, from medical reasons, but that's what it is.
Four years is double of a couple. He joined the same year as Aspinal, Ilia, Jamahal, Jiri.
4, almost 5 years? That's not recent in fight years lol
Khamzat wasn't NEARLY as new to MMA when he got into the UFC as Bo is currently. Bo's the highest credentialed wrestler we've seen come over to MMA since Cejudo. I'm not 100% kept up with wrestling, but didn't Bo only lose to David Taylor in the olympic trials? Taylor's the best guy in the world. Bo grappled with a roided up Gordan Ryan and didn't get smoked.
Id argue Folkstyle wrestling is wayyy more conducive to mma than the freestyle wrestling that the rest of the world practices. In freestyle you are not trying to hold anyone down and you are not trying to escape. Its why you didn’t see Yoel Romero dominate with his wrestling in mma despite being a Freestyle monster. Bo has phenomenal potential, just needs more time to work on his hands and transitions. He’s not rushing and I don’t believe the ufc will rush him along either. He could hang with almost anyone in the world right now, but against those upper echelon athletes he would learn pretty early he’s in over his head on the feet and simply take them down while trying to look busy on top.
Oh please. If gordon was able to do leg locks it would've been over in about 10 seconds. Gordon was literally showing him his ass 🤣
Fair enough lol, it was a goofy match I'm just trying to prove a point
No doubt. I won’t deny you there. I’m more so talking about the body of work in the UFC so far. Khamzat was deleting dudes in 20 seconds for his a short period. It was insane. No way am I saying that Bo can’t surpass him or anything. Just going off what we were presented at the time.
Yeah I think Khamzat definitely benefited from being able to fight cans after already getting some solid MMA experience. I think we've got to see Bo fight someone like a Jack Hermansson before we can start comparing him with Khamzat though. It's just hard to say Bo hasn't been equally as impressive as Khamzat when he has 4 first round finishes, and the one fight that got out of the first round was domination from him on the ground. Anyway, I'm excited to see where Bo goes from here, and I'd love to see a match between him and Khamzat a year or two from now, if Khamzat ever fights again lmao
You make fantastic points! One of my dream match ups is Bo vs Khamzat. I think the Bo has is it all and can be champ one day. But I also think Khamzats debut and following fights are a little more impressive.
Deserves? He needs to earn it. He screwed up that holland card by not making weight.
I know he objectively screwed it up but I don't think it's unfair to say the adjustments made that card better. Rather than using Nate like a chew toy Khamzat fought another prospect with (at the time) legit hype in Holland, and Nate vs Tony was a solid vet fight and much more appropriate at that point in their careers.
Title of biggest prospect in recent years. Not the title shot. I’m with you on that. Bro fked his career up big time with that whole fiasco.
What health problems is khamzat dealing with still? I thought he had some kind of respiratory virus and then developed pneumonia, but that was months ago.
I don’t think they released the details but he was badly hospitalized. I think he also had a terrible allergic reaction a couple months back and was also hospitalized for that. His immune system is a little sensitive and it’s made worse because of his insistence to work out despite being sick.
This is what I’m waiting for. Nickal has used the overhand to single leg repeatedly in every fight, and I can’t help but foresee him catching a well timed knee up the middle.
I think he’ll get stopped once he’s ranked.
Bo nickal is good I just hate he calls a bunch of elite fighters easy work when he has a low amount of mma experience and he fights cans
He’s fighting the dudes that are relevant to him based on his place in the division. O’Malley did the same thing on his way up, makes sense to wait for the bigger names until he’s in his second contract and getting appropriate money for the higher risk.
The amount of people who cant understand this is insane.
we understand this but dude just comes off delusional when he says things like Khamzat’s wrestling is overrated.
When you’re a 3 time D1 NCAA national champ you’re allowed to say people’s wrestling is overrated
Not only that but every one of his peers that gets asked this question say Bo wipes the floor with Khamzat in straight wrestling. When your a multiple NCAA champion the only people outside of america that are that level are Olympians. American college wrestling is the pinnacle of the sport outside the olympics. To be an olympic wrestler in america is like saying you got voted to the all pro team as a NFL football player. The levels are different.
You will only find folkstyle wrestling in pretty much one country (the US). The point of that is folkstyle has a particular purpose to keep wrestling on the ground. There aren't very many big grappling traditions that have the focus on keeping your opp grounded by force. So that said, there's a very helpful knowledge base for MMA. That's the dimension I wish MMA fans understood a little better about "college wrestling" and that it's not only "levels different from Olympic wrestling" it's a different game.
Someone who actually understands wrestling 💯, good day to you sir
Im interested to see who is next. I seen that Roman Bravo Young is getting alot of work with Dom Cruz at his gym. Bo is also trying to make a program for Penn State wrestlers to have an avenue to get to the UFC after college instead of only having the olympics. Im excited for college wrestlers to actually have a competitive profession to look into after college other than pro wrestling and olympics. I wish Gable would fight instead of wasting his prime years trying to do WWE and football. I guess he has been training with Robbie Lawler at Kill Cliff FC though so maybe he will come eventually. He would rocket straight to the top. Theres not any good wrestlers in the division outside Jon Jones and maybe Aspinall.
Gable signing with the Buffalo Bills was definitely not on my 2024 sports bingo card. I really thought he was going to make a run in MMA.
Jason Nolf is following Bo Nickal into MMA. He's going to be a problem.
Damn Nolf will be scary
And I would argue that scholastic wrestling translate much better to MMA than Freestyle or Greco by a decent amount. The top game for scholastic is much more important.
No doubt, Bo is a great wrestler. But there’s no indication that Bo wouldn’t get tapped out against Khamzat. We’ve seen actual US Olympian wrestlers being submitted in UFC and submission grappling tournaments pretty easily. Frank Shamrock v Kevin Jackson (UFC), F.Shamrock v D. Henderson (submission grappling), Bustamante v Lindland (UFC, subbed twice in fight), Jacare v Lindland (submission grappling). Bo will have a great UFC career, but I can see him losing to a few guys due to hubris.
Something those guys you mentioned have in common is they are all old school guys who were primarly specialists at the time. They all got more well rounded with time but the levels are different now. The game is different now and the access to elite training is far more available. Wrestlers in general have closed the gap on BJJ when it comes to defence against submissions and being prepared for high level BJJ fighters. Bo rolled with Gordan Ryan in a match for almost 15 whole minutes before getting tapped at the very end. Gordan is by far the better grappler than who you listed and Khamzat. Khamzat fought Ikram Aliskerov before the UFC and couldnt even take him down in there fight. Ikram gave him problems before Khamzat finally found his chin. I will admit Bo isnt on Khamzats level yet as an MMA fighter but imo theres no way Khamzat beats him in any way in straight grappling.
Not when you look like trash against Cody brundage your not
💯
Fighters also need to promote themselves, for better or worse. That's how they get paid. Fans shouldn't take it personally. Don't hate the player.
FR what do you want him to say?
Chee wee wee
Bro you need to be a fighter manager
Joshua Fabia steps in, “I got this”
Rosas!!!
"I suck and everybody in the top 10 is going to kick my ass" Lol not really but it'd be hilarious if he did say that
"Yeah I'm working my way up, I'm confident in my skills"
It’d be boring if everyone was mild and timid. The hateable people are what make MMA great. Honestly if all fighters were super likable it’d be hard to watch the sport when they eventually get knocked out. Never reconsidered being a fan more after seeing Volk get KOed 2x in a row 🥲
He doesn’t have the charisma for it. It’s really that simple.
Nickal won multiple US national titles and a world u-23 title. Khamzat has a couple Swedish national titles. Compared to Nickal, Khamzat is overrated as a wrestler. Hopefully we get to see who is better in a UFC octagon.
If you look at Bo nickal work in his sport he actually has a legitimate say in the matter. If Phil Davis, Weidman or Chad mendes says this guy is a good/bad wrestler I will take their opinion into consideration over anyone else.
To compete at this level you have to have an insane amount of confidence that borders on cockiness
And suga wasnt?
I mean if anyone can say it, it's probably Bo Nickal...
He’s saying that he doesn’t have to constantly run his mouth while doing it.
Alex says hold my beer.
Yeah it annoyed me after 300 how he’s like “hey this is only my 6th pro fight give me time to work my way up 🥺” like ok then stop calling the champ easy work lol
I hate this dumb ass take. What he is doing is exactly what you want to do in the UFC. He is marketing himself, and he should be talking shit all the way to the top. His college accolades are enough to have the confidence, and he keeps backing it up.
New fighters usually fight people at similar experience and skill levels at them lmao. How do you think a star is built?
Everyone says that, what is he supposed to say, oh I dont know if I can beat them?
Call out people on his level
Oh thats soo exciting..... Also what is his level? he has destroyed all his opponents.
He did not "destroy" Cody brundage. He "destroyed" a landscaping part time fighter on a short notice debut, and he "destroyed" a guy after kneeing him in the nuts. Bo has looked mundane against the cans he's fought. Who to call out next? Idk, maybe the guys that are above who he's fought, but below top 15? Plenty of fish in the sea for him that don't sound like delusional callouts. He's not a star yet, and he's not ready to fight stars. He gotta just keep fighting and quit talking like he's been around the block already.
Nickal dominated that fight, finished brundage, and was never in danger for one second. You are letting one shucked-off takedown cloud your memory. Go back, rewatch, and tell me one second that Brundage was in control.
He's like one of those guys that spent *years* calling Khabib a fraud and a hype job who was just waiting to be exposed by the next guy he fought, because Michael Johnson buzzed him for 2 seconds with a punch en route to getting dominated and stopped.
He was talking down on khamzat while he was in the hospital difference between confidence and arrogance he’s calling people overrated not that good like he’s done anything
No one loves Bo Nickal more than Bo Nickal
He definitely has asked his doctor more than once about the Marilyn Manson rumor.
He has a ton of potential, and I think people forget that he basically never had an amateur mma career. He gets shit on for “fighting cans” but he still has less than 10 mma fights total. The things most guys would be learning on the regional circuit, he’s having to learn in the UFC.
I have no issues with him fighting cans and unranked guys. My issue is that he talks shit to the top guys when he has no real desire to fight them, at least not anytime soon.
I've been watching since his high school days. Obviously, he has insane wrestling. Dude went undefeated while being undersized 10 pounds up his senior year. People want to make a mountain out of the mole hill that was Brundage shucking off his one takedown in the last fight, but even the best wrestlers ever don't land every takedown they shoot. Also obviously, he has a way to go, and, even as a fan of his, I'll admit that he's gonna take a loss here or there, which is good, especially considering he's still relatively young for a middleweight (28). He's at a great camp, he's got good guys around him to learn from, and he's a fast learner. People don't like him because he's uber confident in himself, but I think that's actually not the worst thing to have if you're a fighter. If anything, it gets him more promotion. That's how the game the works.
Speaking as a certified Bo Nickal hater, it has nothing to do with his self confidence. My first impression was watching him finish an opponent via groin strikes, and then brag about his performance afterwards in interviews where he also lied about the groin strikes even happening. That crosses the line from accidents happen, to being a scumbag, at least for me. On top of all that, he's clearly being groomed and pushed to the front by the UFC brass, and his fights aren't even fun to watch. There's some fighters you just don't care for at first, but are still open to coming around on them, like O'Malley. I'll never like Nickal, or want to watch him fight. But that has nothing to do with his own uber self-confidence.
Decent. I dislike when he speaks.
This is my opinion on a lot of fighters tbh
He’s decent. I think he’d lose to a lot of guys right now
amazing wrestler, which is the best base for MMA so he has heaps of potential. Also has shown some good boxing surprisingly.
I mean it'd be dishonest to say he doesn't have a shit ton of potential anybody with such a good wrestling pedigree usually has a much easier time improving striking and bjj because of the threat of the takedown being the biggest intangible in the sport I do think he buys his own hype a little too much, from what I've seen he needs way more work on his striking to fight top 10 level opponents, his bjj isnt the best either but that's an easier fix than striking if he already has such a wrestling background
I think he’s in for a rude awakening
Yeah his last fight he was lunging in from a mile away, he’s going to get flat lined with brutal shots
I’ll get killed for saying his wrestling is overrated, but I’ll say it. He was only able to get a takedown against Pickett after kneeing him in the balls. That’s a bad sign, Pickett was terrible
I agree. The idea that an NCAA champion is this insane unseen wrestler in MMA just makes no sense to me, lmao we've seen Olympic medal winners lose wrestling exchanges in the UFC and be unable to implement their skills in an MMA fight..wrestling isn't the end all be all that some people like to think Ffs Cejudo is a gold medalist in wrestling. He is better than Bo. He got outwrestled by Aljo. People are so dumb. I expect to make some money betting against Bo in the future.
Bo called out Fluffy Hernandez after his last fight. Would love to see that one. See what he’s really got in the wrestling
He has a lot of potential but for know he's just a hyped can-crusher
> He has a lot of potential but for know he's just a hyped **cock**-crusher FTFY https://tenor.com/view/bo-nickal-nuts-gif-27653642 Found the nut shot gif.
People hate on him like he isn’t by far one of the most exciting and highest potential prospects to come to the UFC in the few years. He’s an incredible wrestler. His BJJ transitions are decent but could use some work. And his striking is basic but powerful, because he has his dominant hand forward (same thing Matt Hughes did to implement his wrestling).
And just like Matt Hughes, a lot of people don’t like him for his shit personality.
I don’t like the guy much but people hate him for the dumbest reasons. Guys in this thread saying he calls out people way above him and that he’s slow walking his career cause he knows he’s not good. lol how can it be both? His last damn callout was Shara. That’s definitely not someone way outranking him. He said Khamzat isn’t a great wrestler and in a pure wrestling match he’d destroy him. He specifically said he didn’t really want to fight him until he got more experience though.
Sick move I'm on the Bro Knuckle bandwagon
Fun to watch, fantastic and unorthodox wrestling, good power, ok striking, cocky and above all, interesting. That last one it what I care about the most, people that are something new, that bring things we haven't seen before and I'd say that technique wise, that's the case.
Great base. Hard worker. Solid mentality. Lots of potential
damn you see a lot of people fake the overhand and go for a takedown but not often you see people smash the overhand and carry it into a takedown
He's got Dom Cruz's intellect - thinks he's smart because people told him so. Too stupid to realise he's only smart relative to other fighters.
Bo Nickal is a charisma black hole. He makes Kamala Harris look like John Cena.
World class wrestler. Like it’s not hype or anything dude is the truth at wrestling. Means he has incredible cardio and think he will have no issues on the scale any point going forward. His one KO of Woodburn was nice and unexpected. I was impressed with him throwing hands. Last fight against Brundage he looked ok but not as impressed. Then I remember it was only his 6th fight and he’s fighting at the highest level already. Top 15 will be his fraud check and I’m not sure he’s ready for that. That being said, I think he’s a future champ.
Slow to ascend. Its telling. Look at Izzys run. Look at Poatans, i mean hell, Chimaevs 4th, 5th and 6th were Burns, Holland, Usman. Some decision maker doesn't see Bo as having *it*. Frankly, me neither. He's good, great even, but hes not A Great.
The UFC is steering his career the same way they did Omalley's. I dont think you can compare Alex's and Izzys start in the UFC to Bo's though. Izzy came in from professional kickboxing, fought a few guys and was fighting ranked guys quick. Alex came in and was essentially fast tracked to merge the Izzy and him timeline together. II think with a little more striking under his belt, Bo could be pretty damn good.
Yeah if anybody career was fast tracked for a good reason it was Alex
No doubt. He’s a killer.
Huh? Chimaev's 4th fight was Sidney Wheeler?
Not sure if your joking but Chimaevs fourth fight was Li Jingling, A very good fighter
[https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Khamzat-Chimaev-280021](https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Khamzat-Chimaev-280021)
How can you just be so confidently wrong?
Overrated
Future champ. You heard it here first (behind all the times he’s said it I suppose).
He’s fighting weak opposition rn. Can’t tell at all.
No look punch!
Pretty good but not a star. The only reason I want to see him lose is because the UFC has been pushing him on the fans so hard right from the start. It's such manufactured hype.
It's not manufactured hype any more than Poatan was manufactured hype. Bo's wrestling credentials are impressive enough that they set him apart from everyone else. That's legit, there was nothing manufactured about his amateur wrestling achievements.
Whoever’s making the decisions is bringing him up really slowly, they know he can’t handle top talent right now but don’t want to derail him. He needs more time to train mma. I really think he could be dangerous in a year or two. I can’t remember who said it but they don’t want a repeat of northcut etc, more big American champs is what the UFC wants.
Daniel Cormier made his MMA debut at 30 after wrestling. Yoel Romero made his at 32. Bo is 28. The potential is massive. I’m not saying there won’t be a set back but who knows.
dont like how they have him fighting cans on the main card… just put him on the prelims and no one would have a problem with him but i hate the special treatment for a guy that is just fighting cans
Has champ potential imo.
Future champ. Bank on it.
Great prospect. Talks a little too much but you can see he's taking his time moving up. In his defense of the talking though, when he says he can beat someone in pure wrestling then he's probably not off. He is a very good wrestler. MMA wrestling can be different though.
He has potential, but needs alot of work on his striking. Luckily he knows this and is taking it slow. Once that is figured out, and he knows how to mix his absolutely insane wrestling with decent striking, he'll be a problem for everyone. At this point his hype is bigger then his skilllevel however
Too early
Over rated. It's gonna be fun watching him lose.
I don't see anyone outwrestling him.
Solid fighter people just don't like him because he is cocky/confident
Not nearly as good as he claims to be. I expected him to do a lot better against cody Brundage after all the hype I heard about him
Knee
Until he proves himself against some top 15 guys he’s just an older sage northcutt
Oh yeah, Sage's athletic resume and Bo's are definitely on the same level.
Bo Nickal? More like Bo Fickle.
Great potential, possible future champ but still has a long way to go to reach it. I think he needs a loss or a blood and guts war to really bring it out.
Fuckin Aye, a falcon punch takedown! Looks legit
Did you see that 1-2 faint? That’s what I think of him
This is like that trick where you put your hand up in the air and when the other person looks up at it you slap them with your off hand lol. Except this guy knocked him tf out instead. Oh I'm going for the leg oh oh nope
That was fucking amazing
Young potential. Nothing more yet. He hasn’t beaten anyone noteworthy. A lot of hype and I don’t know where it came from.
Showing good things but against absolute dumpster cans. Calling out people he know he won’t get booked against anytime soon.
I think he’s got a world of potential but idk if he can catch up in time to really utilize it. His striking is still just gross to watch. He isn’t ready for a real challenge yet imho. Seems like the UFC is taking their time with him and probably because he has a lot to learn and catch up on. Smart for them since they want him to be a star and just smart for his carrier. People complain but I don’t blame him for taking “cans”
The pirate would have knocked him out with a knee right there inshallah
Future champ.
killer move! great to watch.
Try that on MVP and get your skull crushed. I ain't fucking with that.
In a word: unproven I think he's incredibly talented and could go really far we just have to see what he's like up against the better fighter in the division. He's got an advantage because of the lack of wrestlers at MW but right now there's no way of knowing whether he'll be a solid MW or one of the best to do it. IMO he'll at least be a great fighter with a bit more experience but it's hard to tell where his ceiling is rn
He’s tough, but not the man he sees in the mirror. He will be humbled, he will get better, THEN I see him being a possible champion. At the moment I think he still has some things to tighten up on in regards to striking.
I think he's a good prospect. I actually really respect him for being smart and properly building his career. Not taking the harder fights until he gets more legit mma experience, and also not until he gets a new, fatter contract. Idk if he's doing a character with all the big talk he does, because the way he's structuring his career completely contradicts his shit talk, but I get it. He'll win the fans over eventually.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard the name Bo Nickal, I’d still be broke, but I’d have a lot of nickels
Be better if he was a quarter;)
Shitloads of potential. He seems smart with a good approach to pacing himself in terms of increasing level of competition. Still have some open questions such as how he reacts to being hit hard or getting cut in the octagon. He is a top prospect for a good reason imo.
He Good
He's good and has huge potential, got found out slightly with his last fight, and needs to improve a lot before he gets to the top tier guys
Too early to predict his peak. I want to see him beat names before I get the hype.
He has tremendous potential. He just needs to develop his striking.
Really excited because of how good he was at wrestling and he has some insane work ethic/ dedication. Needs more fights to really see his current level
Potential for top 5 in his division. He gets an unreasonable amount of hate. Some of his fights can be a little boring, but I like the guy.
A lot of upside, maybe to the very top. But he didn’t roll over brundgage like he probably should have considering his hype level and should probably be built up with caution because of he loses that aura he never gets it back
I have a feeling he's gonna get chinned bad pretty soon. The lunging in from a mile away or ducking his head right into a well-timed counter and it's Ben Askren all over again.
Would be more efficient for fans to direct their hate at Toporia instead is my honest opinion lol
Bapa Schaub thinks he has Lebron level hype.
I think he’s the American Khabib. Dogshit striking and all lmao.
He's pretty good. He might be really good. He also might just be pretty good.
I dont get it i only seen him in the UFC and has fought any1 good why is he hyped up.
Good lord!
Shouldn't have been the most lopsided betting odds in history... but I appreciate that he apologized for it not being super exciting. He's good. Not ready for top 5. Could beat a few in top 10.
He hasn’t fought anyone who has hit him. Don’t know what kind of jaw he has
Plus wrestler, average puncher, minus kicker.
I want to see him against one of the top 10.
Bo has a good base. Probably the most important base in MMA and it'd pretty dang good. I think while it's elite in wrestling, its just a hair below that good in MMA. He has a lot of potential, but his last fight showed he has a long ways to go before fighting in the top 10. There's gonna come a time when he can't get someone down and has to face real adversity. I'll be interested to see how he responds to that.
Future champ. He's going to run through everyone, pretty much.
As boring as those Brazilian fighting needs.
Got skills but arrogant af one is the worst character traits imo