Penn State National Champion and All-American wrestler [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] finally did enough to earn a shot in the UFC. He won in impressive fashion once again this time doing so against a bigger opponent with an even better record.
Last time Bo Nickal was in the UFC octagon he was making his national debut and won in 63 seconds. He faced an opponent who was several leagues below him if we are being honest and did what he was supposed to. However, on the most recent installment of Dana White’s Contender Series he faced a much better opponent. One could even argue he is the better fighter on paper in Donovan Beard.
Beard was 7-1 coming into the bout to Bo Nickal’s 2-0. Beard was another promotion’s middleweight champion, Nickal hadn’t been in a promotion for more than one fight thus far.
Needless to say, no one expected this to be as easy as Nickal made it look. He secured a quick takedown on Beard shortly after the bout began. He followed that up with securing a top mount that he used to transition to a triangle choke hold on Beard. Nickal would lock in his ankle and the whole thing was over before he could even start.
Bo Nickal needed a total of 1:55 seconds in two professional MMA fights to secure a UFC contract. The insanity in that cannot be overstated.
Nickal proved he is multitalented though. After the fight he was quick with the microphone at his disposal, even calling out current UFC rising star and top contender Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC President Dana White was asked what he notes were on Nickal and he said all he had written down was “damn.” White also added that Nickal is “special” and is going to be a great fighter after showcasing he is already well ahead of so many at the same point in their careers.
His next fight isn’t yet known, won’t be for a couple weeks one can assume, but how the UFC handles him could be interesting. It is hard to compare him to anyone else the sport has seen. Fighters like Henry Cejudo and Brock Lesnar would be thrown to the proverbial wolves almost immediately and become champions. Other fighters would take the longer path and suffer losses along the way to dirty their shine.
No matter what happens, Nickal is proving that Penn State wrestling is on another level and the type of athlete they recruit is the best the country had to offer. Nickal won’t be the last Penn State wrestler to find success in MMA, he wasn’t the first, but he has a chance to be the best and that is worth following.
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