Decorated wrestler Bo Nickal made his professional MMA debut on June 3rd. He was victorious. Prior to his pro debut, he has won two amateur fights, both by first-round finishes.
Nickal finished his NCAA career with a record of 120-3 in four years of eligibility at Penn State. He then began training at American Top Team before decided to turn pro.
“To be 100 per cent honest with you, if I were to ever wrestle Khabib, Khabib wouldn’t last more than 30 seconds against me in a wrestling match,” Nickal said in an interview with Givemesport.
While he’s not taking away anything from Nurmagomedov’s legacy, he believed that in a real wrestling match, Nurmagomedov won’t last long.
“Maybe 60 seconds, tops. I respect the guy, don’t get me wrong, like he’s tough. If he’s not the greatest of all time in MMA, he’s up there. “
Of course, Nickal is likely unaware that Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo had lost wrestling matches in Dagestan.
His NCAA accmplishments are perhaps why he’s so comfortable in his grappling that he’s called out the biggest names in the sport of MMA for a back to back bout.
“This guy Bo Nickal is crazy af! He’s asked me to set up grappling matches with the following, all on the same night… DC, khabib, gsp, ben askren and chimaev as an alternate If someone backs out. Lol… would you guys pay too watch this?”
Seeing his grappling offer, McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh had an alternative offer. Kavanagh asked if Nickal would enter the ADCC.
I’m interested in ADCC but focused on mma at this point. Could be an option in the future. https://t.co/Uahrgvw20m
— Bo Nickal (@NoBickal) June 9, 2022
Of course Nickal is neglecting to mention he lost to jiu jitsu bad boy Gordon Ryan in the past.
Ryan lost the wrestling portion of their duel of course.