Bo Nickal is aware of he has Khamzat Chimaev’s consideration.
The three-time NCAA champion wrestler and blue-chip middleweight prospect continued his ascent this previous Saturday with a second-round submission of Cody Brundage on the pay-per-view opener of UFC 300. The bout marked the primary time Nickal has seen a second spherical in his nascent MMA profession, however nonetheless preserved his undefeated 6-0 skilled report. All six of these victories have led to stoppages.
Nevertheless, one man, particularly, was not impressed: Khamzat Chimaev. The 2 have traded barbs for a lot of the previous yr, and after the bout, Chimaev posted on social media that Nickal’s wrestling was “huge bulls***.” Upon seeing it, Nickal was delighted.
“I find it irresistible,” Nickal stated Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “I feel the truth that he’s recognizing it, and I feel he sees what’s coming too, I feel that it’s good for everyone. Good for me, good for him, good for the game. So we’re going to make that combat occur.
“I’d simply in response to that prefer to say, yo, who have been you combating at 5-0, bro? Some random dude in Europe? I’m combating within the UFC on UFC 300, so there’s ranges to this. And I feel that individuals simply must get to know me. The extra they get to know me, the extra they’re going to understand that, hey, I’m that man, and there’s nothing anyone else can do about that. I wouldn’t stunned if once we combat, I’m like a -1000 favourite, the identical as I’ve been towards all these folks.”
Nickal, 28, has prodded Chimaev over a possible combat since formally becoming a member of the UFC in 2023. The embellished wrestler is extensively thought-about to be one of many high prospects in all of MMA, and up to now his UFC outcomes have validated that hype. Nickal earned a pair of first-round submissions over Zachary Borrego and Donovan Beard on the UFC’s Contender Collection, then kickstarted his run within the promotion with fast submissions of Jamie Pickett and Brundage sandwiched between a 38-second knockout of Val Woodburn.
Nickal is aware of the Chimaev combat is one for the distant future, however he’s assured he’ll have the ability to deal with the undefeated Chechen as simply as he did Brundage as soon as they meet.
“I feel I’d do very equally to him what I did to this final man — take him down, rag-doll him, throw him round,” Nickal stated. “He’s not a giant ‘85er, he will get drained. So is his first spherical going to be somewhat higher, extra aggressive? Most likely. But when that combat’s 5 rounds, I don’t assume he makes it 5 rounds, if we’re being sincere. And that’s, to me, sort of a common evaluation. Will or not it’s robust at the start? Is he going to come back at me? Completely. However I don’t assume he’s going have the ability to actually harm me or do something that inflicts a lot harm that I’m not going to in a position to simply widen the hole on him because the combat continues.”
For now, Chimaev sits precisely the place Nickal hopes to be sooner or later — smack dab within the thick of the middleweight title dialog. After dispatching his first seven UFC opponents, most of whom he dealt with with ease, Chimaev is about to tackle former champ Robert Whittaker on June 22 within the headliner of the promotion’s debut journey to Saudi Arabia.
Nickal doesn’t a lot care who wins that matchup, though he acknowledged that if Chimaev is victorious, it solely turns an inevitable showdown with “Borz” down the road into a much bigger combat. So in that sense, he’s selfishly pulling for his rival to have a profitable evening — and Nickal believes the criticisms Chimaev has confronted since his hard-fought win over former welterweight champ Kamaru Usman are overblown.
“I feel anytime there’s reward and hype on any person, it in all probability goes too far. Even with myself, I feel that it will probably get out of hand fast,” Nickal stated. “And there’s the damaging aspect, there’s the optimistic aspect, after which actuality might be someplace within the center with everyone. And so I feel that, with all that thought-about, I do imagine that along with his expertise, he might nonetheless be champion, and he simply has constructed himself such a fame that guys are terrified of him. Like, I assure you Whitaker is afraid of getting taken down, simply due to his model and what he’s been in a position to do. No matter whether or not him and Usman had a detailed combat, he has constructed that fame and solidified it.
“The distinction with me is rather like, I’ve additionally constructed my very own fame, I additionally know what I’m able to, and I do know for a reality there’s zero probability of him doing that to me, which is his strongest asset. So I feel the fame side has quite a bit to do with it, and why he has gained the fights the best way he’s gained them, and why he competes the best way he competes. However I do assume he does have expertise that, he might be the champion.”
As for his personal instant future, Nickal is already focusing on a return to motion in late July or early August.
“I need to begin approaching the rankings right here quickly,” Nickal stated. “It’s humorous, as a result of when you get within the rankings, you don’t really want to combat [everyone]. There’s 15 guys ranked, I don’t must combat 15 guys to get the belt, proper? I solely must combat two or three. So it’s like, if I combat a ranked man, then it’s possible that inside six months I’m combating for the belt.
“So I feel that I need to get possibly one or two extra guys which might be somewhat bit higher proper exterior the rankings, after which possibly early subsequent yr begin [on] ranked guys, after which possibly 2025, combat for the belt. In order that’s sort of the place I see it going.”
