Contender series alumnus Bo Nickal hasn’t even made his UFC debut yet, but he’s confident that he’ll take out the UFC middleweight champion. Nickal, a three-time Division 1 national wrestling champion, believes he’ll be taking on – and defeating – elite opposition within a year.
In a recent interview with UFC commentator and former middleweight champ Michael Bisping, Nickal declared that “there’s not really a chance in the world” that Adesanya can stop him from earning a submission win.
Bo Nickal on Adesanya: “I don’t really know how he’s gonna stop me”
“Of course, if I’m going in there with a guy like Israel Adesanya, yeah, he’s a killer on the feet. He can knock anybody out, he has amazing striking, and that goes without saying. Anytime you go into a fight there’s a risk of being knocked out. For me, when I look at that, that’s really my only chance of losing that fight.
There’s not really a chance in the world he’s keeping me away and picking me apart for five or four rounds. I’m gonna get a hold of him at some point, I’m gonna bring him to the ground. He’s never fought anybody with one-tenth of the wrestling that I have, with one-tenth of the jiu-jitsu that I have.”
Bold words, considering that Adesanya has never lost a fight at middleweight and is currently riding a five-fight winning streak.
In fairness, however, Bo Nickal has transitioned from wrestling to MMA remarkably well. In his three-fight MMA career he has not absorbed a single strike. He obliterated CFFC champion Donovan Beard, earning a first-round submission victory and a UFC contract with it on Dana White’s Contender series. Nickal shows all the signs of being the next great wrestling-based fighter.
Israel Adesanya’s game, on the other hand, has depended heavily on his elite kickboxing ability. Adesanya’s range and takedown defense have seen him fare well against grapplers in the past, with the notable exception of his one-sided loss to Jan Blachowicz when he attempted to capture the UFC light heavyweight title. Bo Nicka, however, insists that he’s a different beast entirely.
“I don’t really know how he’s gonna stop me from bringing him to the ground and submitting him. I get it. Yeah, there’s always going to be a chance that I get knocked out, but we’ve seen this story too many times in this sport, and we know how it goes.”
Do you think Bo Nickal has what it takes to dethrone Israel Adesanya? Let us know in the comments.
