Bo Nickal apparently has his next opponent lined up.
With his skillset, it didn’t take long for Nickal, the three-time NCAA wrestling champion, to become one of the biggest prospects in the UFC.
The 29-year-old made quite a bit of noise in his run through the Octagon, winning his first four fights while claiming he wouldn’t be surprised if he was a massive favorite against current UFC champ Khamzat Chimaev.
In May, we learned that Nickal wasn’t unbeatable as he suffered the first loss of his professional MMA career to former ONE two-division champion Reinier de Ridder via body shot TKO at UFC Des Moines.
Nickal dusted himself off with a decision win over Jacob Cardenas at Hulk Hogan’s Real American Freestyle wrestling event last weekend, but he looks to bounce back for real in the UFC cage this November.
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Report: Bo Nickal returns against Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 322
Nickal wanted in on UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden and he got it.
Once featured on the main card of UFC 300, Nickal asked the UFC if he could fight on the early prelims of UFC 322 on Nov. 15 in New York City.
While there’s no bout order just yet, according to a report from ESPN’s Higor Ciconello, Nickal will face multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and nine-fight UFC veteran Rodolfo Vieira AKA ‘The Black Belt Hunter’.
Vieira has a winning record of 6-3 in the UFC, with his losses coming to Anthony Hernandez (by submission), Chris Curtis, and Andre Petroski. He’s coming off a decision win against Tresean Gore, where the 35-year-old landed one out of 14 takedown attempts.
Bo Nickal could take road to least resistance (again)
Prior to his first loss against Reinier de Ridder, who’s a credentialed grappler, Nickal fought Paul Craig at UFC 309 last November at Madison Square Garden.
On paper, the stylistic matchup was Nickal’s wrestling vs. Craig’s jiu-jitsu. However, what it turned out to be was a three-round striking match, with no takedown attempts from either man.
Craig is famously known as the only fighter to defeat and submit UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Magomed Ankalaev, doing so in the final second of their 2018 fight.
Nickal wasn’t going to risk getting caught in a triangle choke or anything, deciding to outpoint Craig on the feet.
We’ll see if the strategy stays the same for Nickal, going up against a well-respected grappler in Vieira.