Bo Nickal: Bo Nickal urged to take inspiration from the likes of Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev for UFC Des Moines: "Wrestling beats jiu-jitsu"

UFC middleweight contender Bo Nickal is scheduled to face Reinier de Ridder in the co-main event of UFC Des Moines.

Nickal's recent comments about his striking ahead of the fight with de Ridder have left many of his fans and analysts surprised. Among them is former UFC heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub, who urged Nickal to follow the path of Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev. Nickal is a decorated wrestler, holding 3 NCAA D-1 wrestling championships for Penn State.

Nickal is 4-0 in the UFC thus far and will face his toughest test against the former two-division One Championship fighter de Ridder. The Dutchman has made an impressive start to his UFC career, finishing both Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Schaub said:

“RDR-Bo Nickal is such a perfect step-up in competition for Bo Nickal. And you guys know how high I am on Bo Nickal. I think he’s our last hope as an American to become world champion."

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"If he doesn’t use his wrestling, I’m going to bust, I’m going to freak the f–k out if he’s terrified of RDR’s jiu-jitsu, and we get 15 minutes of their bulls**t striking ‘cuz RDR ain’t going to blow you away either on the feet, you’re gonna get a s—y amateur kickboxing match if these f—ers don’t decide to do some grappling."

He added:

"I told you what I want from Bo Nickal, his team’s like “Shut your mouth Schaub’. I hear you, hear me out. He’s such an elite wrestler, he needs to take a page out of Makhachev, out of freaking Khamzat, out of freaking—you name these elite wrestlers—Merab."

"Go old school with it, Khabib, dude f—ing Brock Lesnar. Go old school with it, dude. Be so dominant in wrestling you don’t give a s–t about their black belt. Wrestling usually beats jiu-jitsu nine times out of ten, if you just have some defense. If we get a shitty striking match, I’m going to lose my s–t."

Check out Brendan Schaub's comments below (7:55):

Bo Nickal confident in his striking ahead of Reinier de Ridder fight

UFC middleweight contender Nickal doesn't seem keen to use his wrestling against de Ridder, who is an elite BJJ operative. Speaking on the fight, Nickal said:

"There's a chance I shouldn't take down this fight. But I don't know. I'm kind of turning into a striker, so we'll see... Yeah, I'm working on it. Know, it's developing, getting better. I think that I'm a natural, natural striker, so... Over hands there, that's without a doubt, there's no doubt about that.''

Check out Nickal's comments below:

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About the author

A B. Tech in electrical engineering, Dabeer began his professional career in 2022 with Vairuhl LLC. Dabeer turned into an MMA fan after watching Nick Diaz’s one-round barnburner with Paul Daley in Strikeforce in 2011. His favorite fighter is Tony Ferguson, whom Dabeer loves for his skills and personality. However, ‘El Cucuy’ does not figure in his top-five MMA fighters of all time, with Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov making that list.
Dabeer is of the opinion that MMA has supplanted boxing as the world’s premier combat sport, though he feels that UFC fighters in general are underpaid. This diehard MMA fan also believes that titles should not change hands by disqualification.
Someone who keeps himself immersed in the sport at all times, Dabeer likes to use his knowledge and writing skills to create accurate and relevant information that provides value to the readers. His hobbies are playing football and reading books.

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Edited by Yash Singh