Athletes
Bo Nickal Continues To Excel In MMA
Heading Into His Fifth Professional MMA Fight, Bo Nickal Plans To Continue To Build Off His Impressive Debut In March
On the Monday of UFC 290 fight week, middleweight Bo Nickal found out that his opponent, Tresean Gore, had pulled out from the fight.
“Initially, I thought there's no chance I was going to be able to stay on the card,” Nickal said. “My assessment was that I was just going to have to go home.”
Less than 24 hours later, the UFC had found someone for Nickal to face, Val Woodburn. Nickal spent some time with his management team and coaches discussing the opponent, and ultimately decided to take the fight, allowing him to stay on the card for International Fight Week. Things were back to business as usual for Nickal.
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“I feel very fortunate that I have a fight now and it's just a big opportunity for me,” Nickal said. “I'm looking forward to performing and making the most of it.”
Nickal made his long-awaited UFC debut earlier this year at UFC 285: Jones and Gane, and it lived up to the hype when he submitted Jamie Pickett less than three minutes into the first round.
It was only Nickal’s fourth MMA fight after going pro last June and making two appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series. Prior to his MMA career beginning, he spent his time on the wrestling mats at Penn State University. Being able to learn all aspects of mixed martial arts has been a highlight for Nickal thus far.
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“It’s almost like the whole wide world is available to me in MMA,” Nickal said. “I really enjoy that, and I think that I've grown to respect the other martial arts: striking, jiu jitsu and grappling just as much as I do wrestling because I think to accomplish my goals, I have to respect them in that way. On top of that, I just enjoy it. I enjoy learning and I enjoy training all these other disciplines and it's fun for me.”
Nickal said that his favorite thing to do is compete, and his second favorite thing to do is train, so that’s where he spends most of his time.
As he has been able to go through another full camp getting ready for a fight, he believes there’s been a lot of growth his game.
“I think I know how to improve at a fast rate,” Nickal said. “I have a lot of awesome people around me. I have a great team and I think they're going to see somebody compete this weekend that you guys have never seen before; somebody that is vastly improved to what was shown last time.”
Nickal was originally training for Gore, whose record is 5-2, with four of his five wins coming by finish, two in the first round. Now, he’ll prepare to face Woodburn, who is 7-0, with five wins by knockout and three first-round finishes. Preparing for an opponent like Gore has given Nickal some peace of mind heading into his bout with Woodburn, with the two having similar styles.
“It was definitely helpful that I prepared for a similar type of opponent, a guy with a big right hand that has TKO finishes and stuff,” Nickal said. “I feel like there wasn't that big of a shift or a difference in opponent, which definitely aided in the decision to continue in deciding to fight this weekend, as well.”
With the late opponent switch, he hasn’t had much time to do a deep dive into who Woodburn is a fighter, but he has learned a few things that he will be considering on Saturday night.
“I've watched most of his fights and he's definitely got a big right hand,” Nickal said. “He likes to throw a looping right hand, right hook, uppercut, and he's got five TKO finishes and seven wins, so I'm sure he has a lot of power. That being said, I feel I have the fundamentals and the foundation to be able to move and put myself in a good position to win the fight and that's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to focus on my game plan and implement it.”
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On Saturday night, Nickal opens up the main card of a stacked pay-per-view event inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Nickal’s perfect night would end with him getting another first-round finish over Woodburn, but he isn’t setting expectations on that. He just wants to put on another impressive showing and continue to build the Bo Nickal brand.
“I just want to continue to build my reputation,” Nickal said. “In wrestling, I felt like I did a really good job of building my reputation and I got known for certain things, for a certain style of wrestling. I want to do the same thing in MMA. I want to be known as an exciting fighter, a guy that finishes fights and who is dangerous multiple different positions. It's all just about building my reputation.”
UFC 290: Volkanovski vs Rodriguez took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 8, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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