Tag: Bo Nickal

Video: Bo Nickal flattens opponent with sharp combination just 30 seconds into pro MMA debut

Three-time NCAA champion wrestler Bo Nickal picked up his first professional win on Friday, and didn’t need long to finish the fight.

There is a lot of hype around three-time NCAA Division I champion wrestler [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] and his professional debut on Friday just proved why.

Nickal’s collegiate wrestling accomplishments at Penn State garnered a lot of attention when he decided to turn pro after impressing in two fights an amateur fighter. At [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]’s iKON FC 3, Nickal (1-0 MMA) stepped into the cage for the first time as a professional to face fellow debuting fighter John Noland in a middleweight bout.

The fight was one-way traffic from the beginning as Nickal offered hard strikes, looking to land a left high kick early. He would not need to use his wrestling skills to get the job done in this one, as a left hand from the southpaw stance wobbled his opponent, and the combination of punches that followed sent Noland (0-1 MMA) crashing to the canvas just 30 seconds into the opening round.

Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter):

 

“Every single middleweight on the planet, I don’t care what organization you’re in, UFC, Bellator, PFL – doesn’t matter, I’m coming for all y’all,” Nickal said during his post-fight interview.

“I’m trying to hold it down for all my wrestlers out there,” Nickal continued. “I love y’all, and wrestling’s taking over for sure.”

Nickal, 26, has honed his skills at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., and recently explained to MMA Junkie why he felt now was the time to become a professional fighter. After a performance like that in his debut, it’s easy to see why that was a good decision.

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal set for MMA debut

Former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal announced his professional mixed martial arts fighting debut

Penn State wrestling has proven to be somewhat of a factory for it’s wrestlers to go from campus to a cage and fight in mixed martial arts. Former Nittany Lions such as Ed Ruth, most recently Cody Law, and most notably Phil Davis have helped establish that lineage for the program.

Phil Davis proved to be the best of the bunch and eventually earned a world championship, and now [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] is starting a journey in hopes of doing the same.

Nickal announced on his Twitter account he will be making his MMA debut on June 3 in a middleweight bout.

Before deciding to make this sports leap, Bo Nickal of course earned his stripes in the Bryce Jordan Center first. While on the [autotag]Cael Sanderson[/autotag] led team he was a three-time national champion and three-time Big Ten champion. He of course won a national championship, as most Penn State wrestlers tend to these days, and even earned a world championship in 2019,  He finished college with a 120-3 record nd will go down as one of the best to ever touch a matt in State College, Pennsylvania.

Nickal is only 26 which is still relatively young to be starting an MMA career. It is different from boxing where they start at such a young age, for Nickal his wrestling background is his early start.

He will be making his professional debut on June 3rd at the Greater Richmond Convention Center under UFC fighter’s Jorge Masvidal promotion. Masvidal’s promotion has served as a feeder league for the UFC as his relationship with the company has been very good over the years. With a couple of quick wins and impressive fights under the promotion, he could find himself on the sports main stage sooner rather than later.

For now though, he will be taking on a fellow debutant in John Noland who is much older than him, 36, and has a 6-3 record as an amateur. It goes without saying that Nickal is heavily favored in the matchup and you can catch his fight live on UFC Fight Pass.

[mm-video type=video id=01fy0x9mfeb6ns0esq8k playlist_id=01ey902ehrs6e9bvhw player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fy0x9mfeb6ns0esq8k/01fy0x9mfeb6ns0esq8k-c765c3182bfa546796dce58a35144c7d.jpg]

[vertical-gallery id=17562]

PHOTOS: Looking back at Bo Nickal’s Penn State wrestling career

A look back at the storied collegiate wrestling career of Bo Nickal

Penn State has been a powerhouse across the entire NCAA when it comes to wrestling but now they are crossing over to other combat sports, next is [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag].

Bo Nickal left Penn State after back-to-back National Championships in 2018 and 2019 and now at age 26, he will be starting a career in MMA. Wrestling has proven to be one of the better base skills for anyone pursuing mixed martial arts, Penn State wrestling specifically has shown that their wrestlers can have successful MMA careers.

Former wrestlers like [autotag]Phil Davis[/autotag] and Ed Ruth have been successful in their pursuits of combat sports glory, Davis himself even became a world champion. Most recently Cody Law made the transition and is signed to major promotion Bellator and is 5-0 in the promotion.

With Nickal’s pro debut coming the beginning of June it would be good to have a reminder of what he did at State College that makes him one of the best to ever touch a wrestling mat.

Wrestling standout Bo Nickal set for professional MMA debut at Jorge Masvidal’s iKon Fighting Championship

Could Bo Nickal be MMA’s next big star?

[autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] is taking a step up into the ranks of the pros.

At the upcoming Jorge Masvidal’s iKon Fighting Federation event, Nickal (0-0) will make his professional MMA debut when he takes on John Noland (0-0) in a middleweight bout. The card takes place June 3 at Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Va. and streams on UFC Fight Pass.

Nickal, 26, went 2-0 as an amateur after he entered the world of MMA with his debut in September 2021. Both of his fights ended inside the distance with one first-round submission and one violently devastating knockout.

Spotlighted long before his MMA career kicked off, Nickal was a three-time Division-I national champion and three-time Big Ten conference champion for Penn State. He won a national championship and an under-23 world championship, both in 2019 in the 92kg (202.8-pound) weight class. He finished college with a 120-3 record, including a combined 61-0 record in his junior and senior years.

In 2019, Nickal earned the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy, an accolade awarded to the nation’s best wrestler. He also twice won the Schalles Award, an honor given to the nation’s best pinner. In addition, in 2019 he was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year. Nickal is a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and trains at American Top Team in South Florida.

As for his opponent, Noland, who has also gone by the name John Conner, is 36 years old and based out of Alabama. He has a 6-3 record as an amateur, but has lost three of his most recent four outings. Three of his six amateur wins have come inside the distance with two submissions and one stoppage due to strikes.

[vertical-gallery id=2545467]

[vertical-gallery id=2545445]

Twitter reacts to Penn State wrestling’s latest national championship

Micah Parsons and Bo Nickal were among the many celebrating Penn State wrestling’s 9th national championship in 11 years

When you compile a list of some of the most dominant programs throughout the course of collegiate athletics history, Penn State wrestling is making a strong case to be considered among the best of the best. For the ninth time in 11 years under head coach Cael Sanderson, Penn State celebrated a national championship this weekend in Detroit, Michigan. Despite coming up short of a Big Ten title, Penn State’s bigger goals were obtained yet again on the national stage with five wrestlers walking away with individual national titles as well.

While many of the casual sports eyes may have been focused on the events unfolding on basketball courts in the NCAA Tournament, the wrestling faithful following Penn State were glued into the action on the mats. Naturally, the Twitter reactions were euphoric in celebrating Penn State’s most recent national title run in the wrestling world.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the national championship, Cael Sanderson, and the future of Roman Bravo-Young.

Video: Highly touted Bo Nickal lands devastating one-punch KO in second amateur MMA fight

The finish had Jorge Masvidal tweeting that the former Penn State wrestling standout won by “manslaughter.”

From the moment he declared his intention to do MMA in 2019, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] instantly became a prospect to keep an eye on. And so far, through two amateur fights, he’s delivered.

Nickal, the former Penn State University wrestling star, won Friday at Island Fights 70 with a one-punch knockout, dropping opponent Billy Goode with a hard left hand to end the fight at the 2:58 mark of the first round.

Nickal’s performance earned praise from UFC star Jorge Masvidal, who tweeted the win was by “manslaughter.”

Check out the finish in the videos below:

The knockout follows up another finish in his Sept. 24 debut when Nickal defeated David Conley by first-round guillotine choke.

Nickal, 25, was a three-time collegiate national champion at Penn State from 2017 to 2019. His record was 120-3 overall, which included finishing his junior and senior years without a loss.

Nickal joins the likes of former Bellator champion Phil Davis, Bubba Jenkins, Ed Ruth other highly touted Penn State wrestlers who have transitioned to MMA.

Four-time All-American wrestler Bo Nickal set to make MMA debut Sept. 24 at Island Fights 69 in Florida

Wrestling standout Bo Nickal has a date and opponent for his transition to MMA.

[autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] has a date and opponent for his MMA debut.

The four-time All-American wrestler competes in his first professional fight Sept. 24 against David Conley at Island Fights 69. The bout will be contested at middleweight and MMA Junkie confirmed it’s set to take place in a ring and not a cage.

Island Fights 69 takes place at Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. Rapper John Gabbana and social media influencer Supreme Patty fight in the main event in a sanctioned celebrity boxing match.

[lawrence-related id=467523]

Nickal, a Penn State wrestling star, has been training for quite some time for his transition to MMA. The 25-year-old announced in late 2019 he was taking his talents to the MMA world. Nickal has been training at an American Top Team gym in Pennsylvania.

Nickal joins Bubba Jenkins, Ed Ruth, Phil Davis and other Penn State wrestlers who have transitioned to MMA.

Conley fights out of Georgia. He’s 1-0 in his professional MMA career. He made his pro debut in May and won by submission.

Former Penn State wrestling star David Taylor is heading to the Olympics

Former Nittany Lion wrestling star and world champion David Taylor outdueled another former Nittany Lion to punch his ticket to the Olympics

The legacy of Penn State wrestling is ready to hit the mats at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan later this year. David Taylor officially clinched his spot on the United States wrestling team for the Olympics on Saturday, marking his first trip to the Olympics.

To top it off, Taylor had to go through another former Nittany Lion wrestling star to do so. Taylor defeated former Penn State wrestler Bo Nickal for the top spot in the 86 KG finals with a 4-0 in the first of a best-of-three matchup, and 6-0 in the second. Taylor did not yield a point throughout the Olympic trials.

David Taylor, left, wrestles Bo Nickal at 86 kg in the finals during the fourth session of the USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials, Saturday, April 3, 2021, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Credit: Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services

Taylor was an NCAA gold medal winner in 2021 and 2014 and a finalist two other times during his time at Penn State. His international profile has already begun with a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in 2018 and 2019. He will be among the favorites in his weight class at the Olympics later this year.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.

From one All-American to another, Gregor Gillespie offers advice to MMA newcomer Bo Nickal

“Bo Nickal will 100 percent be an absolute freak of nature when it comes to fighting.”

One of the best collegiate wrestlers today will make a transition to MMA in the near future.

Four-time All-American wrestler [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] recently announced he will be taking his skills from the mat to the cage once he’s done with his amateur wrestling career. The Penn State star currently has his eyes set on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team but knows professional fighting is on the horizon.

It’s undeniable Nickal will be a very promising addition to the sport given his grappling pedigree. Fellow All-American, and one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, [autotag]Gregor Gillespie[/autotag] believes the ceiling is high for Nickal.

“Bo Nickal will 100 percent be an absolute freak of nature when it comes to fighting,” Gillespie told MMA Junkie. “He can be the champ one day. I firmly believe that.”

Having come from the same background and being a threat in the UFC’s lightweight division, Gillespie (13–1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) knows a thing or two about what it takes to develop into a successful fighter.

[lawrence-related id=468001,467694]

If Gillespie could offer a piece of advice to the 23-year-old Nickal, it would be to keep building on his existing skills before setting foot in the cage.

“I would tell Bo to do as many no-gi grappling tournaments he can for one or two years,” Gillespie said. “In the spare time he can start doing your sparring, hitting pads and all those things that come with striking, but I would say – if I were his coach – to do as many no-gi grappling competitions you can for a year-and-a-half.

“Three or four times a week hitting pads, and the rest twice a week you can do sparring. But before you have any fights, and obviously Bo is a freak wrestler, but I would tell him to work on his no-gi submission game. Be sure most of Bo Nickal’s fights will end on the ground, you can’t imagine him not taking someone down.”

Nickal has yet to announce a date for his move to MMA. He joins Bubba Jenkins, Ed Ruth, Phil Davis, and a few other Penn State wrestlers who have transitioned to MMA.