Retired UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal was never known for his grappling prowess, but he has nothing but praise for a prodigious wrestler at the junior level of the UFC.
Bo Nickal, a much-discussed UFC prospect, has been training at American Top Team, the gym Masvidal calls home. In a recent appearance on BS with Jake Paul, Masvidal discussed his prediction for Nickal’s future, including a potential title clash with reigning middleweight chap, Israel Adesanya.
Jorge Masvidal’s Shocking Bo Nickal UFC Prediction
“I think it’s young in his career right now, way young in his career right now. But like I said, just right now, if he locks on a limb, good luck on Izzy getting away from him, though, and I’ve seen Izzy through his whole UFC career. Great athlete and good wrestling, but guys like Bo are just like, different.
You can put him in the worst position, like, completely sprawled up, but his hands are like, locked, these guys find a way to just build back up, put you against the fence, and take you down and do it consecutively.
Once they lock, it’s a different type of level, man. I don’t think Izzy, no, I don’t think, I know he’s never competed against a wrestler that decorated, you know?”
In fact, Adesanya has faced his share of elite grapplers. Adesanya has defeated Jiu-Jitsu black belts like Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson, and Kelvin Gastelum, as well as wrestling world champion Yoel Romero. Admittedly, Adesanya’s striking earned him the edge in all those fights.
Overall, however, Masvidal could not speak highly enough of Bo Nickal. “I get to meet him at American Top Team, then we get to start training, and I was like, ‘Man, this guy is just as good as I thought or better.’
I can tell when someone is a good wrestler. I might not be the best wrestler, but I know like, what a good wrestler looks like.
So I was like, ‘This guy got legit talent to maybe take it overseas and compete for world championships and stuff,’ and so when he did the hard left and went into fighting, I was like, this is going to be interesting, bro, to see what comes out of it, and he’s killing it.”
Nickal will make his next UFC appearance at UFC 290 next month, and Masvidal believes Nickal can dominate any man that he gets his hands on.
“I’m telling you right now, because I’ve seen him in the room. If he locks his hands on a lot of dudes, it’s like, game over for that round.
He might just take a dude down and like, this guy is a nightmare, bro, to f*cking have on top of you.”
