Bo Nickal changes stance on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after training - "I was just going there to mess around"

Bo Nickal has proven himself to be one of the most well-rounded fighters currently in the UFC. Nickal is an NCAA Division-I wrestler with multiple wrestling accolades to his name. Although a wrestler primarily, Nickal is a phenomenal grappler with three submission finishes in the UFC (two in Dana White's Contender Series).

In 2020, Nickal even took on arguably the greatest No-Gi grappler on the planet, Gordon Ryan. Although Ryan submitted Nickal via triangle choke, he managed to grapple with the ADCC champion for 13 minutes. Nickal was training with fellow wrestling champion Jason Nolf at the time, at The Mat Factory in Pennsylvania.

According to Bo Nickal (via BJJ Eastern Europe), the 5-0 MMA fighter trained only jiu-jitsu only 'twice' before fighting Gordon Ryan. A Twitter post by Bloody Elbow quoted Nickal as initially wanting to mess around in his first BJJ class, only to end up liking the sport in the end. Here's what Nickal said:

"I was just going there to mess around, but then I was like, 'I like this.'"

Bo Nickal has had a 100% success rate in his MMA career and in the UFC, along with having a 100% finishing rate in his career. He has three wins via submission and two knockout victories.

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Bo Nickal's MMA career so far

Bo Nickal is proving himself to be one of the most bullish prospects in the UFC's middleweight division currently. The NCAA Division-1 wrestler last fought at the recently concluded UFC 290 event, where he managed to secure his fifth career first-round finish via knockout.

Nickal has a 100% finishing rate in all of his five fights, with all fights ending in the first round. Right from facing John Noland at Jorge Masvidal's iKon FC 3 to Val Woodburn at UFC 290, Nickal has managed to overwhelm and dispatch all his opponents in the first round, either via submission or KO.

What's incredible about Nickal's career so far is the fact that, in five fights, Nickal has had an octagon time of 5:59 minutes. Nickal's fastest finish came in his first fight before his UFC stint.

With a 5-0 record, and five first-round finishes, Bo Nickal is putting the middleweight division on notice. Since joining the UFC, Nickal has been gunning for a fight with the Chechen-Swede dual-weight fighter Khamzat Chimaev. Since both fighters are currently unranked at middleweight, a fight between Chimaev and Nickal could very likely happen.