Bo Nickal may well be the most talked-about fighter on Dana White’s Contender Series. The three-time NCAA Division I National Champion might only have two wins so far as a pro, but he’s already talking about taking on UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. As he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, he’s feeling “absolutely confident” in his ability to dethrone the middleweight king.
“I would love that fight. That’s like a dream matchup for me. Obviously with all due respect, he’s one of the greatest middleweights of all time, a great champion, but I think people say this a lot — styles make fights.
Contender Series’ Bo Nickal Believes He Can Take Out Israel Adesanya: “I would be absolutely confident in that fight”
With that being said, I feel confident in that matchup. I feel very good about it, and I would love to have that fight at some point in the future. That would literally be a dream for me.
I would be absolutely confident in that fight. That’s a fight to me, I’ll say again styles make fights, and I would be extremely happy with that matchup right now.”
Considering that Israel Adesanya is the UFC 185-pound champion, undefeated at middleweight, and Bo Nickal doesn’t even have a UFC contract yet, it’s unlikely that they’ll cross paths any time soon. Nickal still feels that his wrestling pedigree sets him apart from the UFC’s other 185-pounders.
“I don’t think there’s really a limit. I don’t think there’s a ceiling at this point, especially at middleweight. It’s not like I’ve got a bunch of NCAA wrestlers in there that are going to be able to stuff my takedowns.
What’s a guy supposed to do? I’ve trained my whole life to take people down and a guy that’s never done that before, never felt anybody like me, how are they supposed to stop me?
They’re going to train for eight weeks and wrestle and that’s going catch them up with where I’m at? No, there’s no logical progression of how they’re going to stop me from doing what I want to them. I think at the end of the day, if I want to do that to a guy, it doesn’t matter who they are, I’ll do it to them.”
Nickal is now booked to face Donovan Beard for his second Contender series matchup, and a win is expected to earn him a UFC contract. As you might expect, he plans on winning. “Just because he’s a legit 7-1 doesn’t mean I’m not going to be a -5000 [favorite].
Come on, let’s get real here. Let me ask you a question — you put me against a top 10 guy in the UFC right now what are the odds? Seriously what am I opening in that fight [against Darren Till]? That’s just the facts.”
Is Bo Nickal overconfident, or is this an early indication of big things to come? Let us know what you think in the comments.
