Issue 210
October 2024
Bo Nickal’s rapid rise faces its first true test at UFC 309, where the wrestling phenom aims to prove he's more than just hype.
When a fighter finishes all their fights with less than 15 total minutes in the octagon, that raises some eyebrows. Bo Nickal has done a lot considering his short time in the sport, with many tipping the wrestling sensation as the next American UFC superstar. That said, he has his first real test ahead of him at UFC 309, taking on Paul ‘Bearjew’ Craig. Many fighters and fans believe this fight will showcase how good Nickal truly is. Isaac Barnett caught up with Nickal in an exclusive interview with Fighters Only to discuss Nickal's motivations, the upcoming bout, and his ambitions going forward.
BORN TO COMPETE
Nickal is relatively new to MMA, with six pro fights, after only training in the sport for three years. However, he is no stranger to competing at a high level in combat sports. He was a three-time collegiate wrestler NCAA Division I national champion, and a three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of Pennsylvania State University with a record of 120–3. He also had an incredibly successful freestyle wrestling career, winning the 2019 U23 World Wrestling Championships and the 2019 US Open. His illustrious wrestling career and upbringing helped develop this MMA prodigy fast-track his career.
"So, I read a lot of scripture, and it's very important to me,” smiles Nickal. “One of my favorite proverbs is 27:17, which says that iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. To me, it means that I should surround myself with not just people who are really good at what they do, but people who are of high character and that I trust and who want to continue to improve themselves and get better. People who are willing to hold each other accountable and hold each other to a high standard. Be honest with each other.
It's because I feel like for me, when I look back on my sporting career, starting competing in wrestling at five years old, I've just been so fortunate to be around some amazing people, and I look at that as the most important part of my career, the wins and the losses and all those things, they come and go, but the relationships you're able to build, that's what I value. I actually created a recovery lotion brand and centered the whole branding and messaging around that. We have a product that helps with any bumps, bruises, inflammation, and stuff like that, and it goes hand in hand because I'm also trying to sharpen myself and improve my skills. You can't do that alone."
ALWAYS LEARNING
Nickal naturally gravitated toward MMA, and by midway through college, he had his heart set on transitioning to the sport.
"I had wrestled my whole life, and so, naturally, you can make the correlation between wrestlers who have been successful at MMA,” he explains. “So, it was always something that interested me and something that I saw the potential in. But when I was in college, I was teaching at a wrestling clinic, and at the same time, there were also some jiu-jitsu practices going on in the same facility. The guys who were running the practices asked if I wanted to join in, and I was like, ‘I'll try. Yeah, let's go.’ From there, everybody just rotated in on me, and we did live rounds for an hour, and I just loved it. It was so fun to do something new and experience that.
And so, at that moment, I knew that I was definitely going to continue wanting to learn all these different martial arts, and that opened my eyes to see what else is out there. I'd already competed in wrestling for almost 20 years at that point. So, I knew that when I was done with that sport and ready to move on, I would have a new avenue to pursue and a bunch of new martial arts to learn. It's been really fun so far."
THE FAST TRACK
Nickal began training in MMA in 2021, quickly developing skills. Before long, he took his first amateur fight on September 24, 2021, winning via an arm-triangle choke submission in the first round. He scored a one-punch KO in his second amateur bout, which led to his professional debut at ATT teammate Jorge Masvidal's iKon FC event, scoring a highlight-reel KO in the first round. This made him become the sport's most sought-after prospect.
"I felt like it happened really fast, you know?” he says. “My thoughts were that I would get ten fights on the regional scene and then go to the UFC. So, that's the way I originally planned it out. I'm going to get a lot of experience, and after I've got that, I'll go to the UFC and do my thing. After my first Pro Fight, every big organization was calling. PFL, Bellator, One FC, and the UFC. It was wild! All of these organizations wanted to sign me, and after talking with people that I was close to, knowing it would be tough for me to get a regional fight. There was a big opportunity ahead. The UFC has always been the path for me, and they told me they could get me a fight on the Contender Series, so I went for it. It was a nice little middle ground, an intermediate way to go, moving in the right direction. So, it happened quicker than I expected, and there was a lot of attention and eyes on it, but I was ready to go. It was fun. It was nothing new from what I'm used to, as far as competing in a high-pressure situation or the spotlight. I've been doing that type of stuff for a long time, so I felt comfortable there. I knew the bigger the opportunity, the better I will perform. That's how I've always been."
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Although he had eyes on him like never before, Nickal was unfazed by the added attention and pressure.
"I believe that for me, it starts with my background and having wrestled at a high level for so long, and I just felt prepared for that,” he says. “Being part of a high-profile collegiate wrestling program like Penn State, you get a lot of attention. You start doing media interviews and things like that at a young age. So, at 17 and 18, I had somewhat of a spotlight on me already. That's something that I was used to, and I was able to experience it growing up. I just learned that the most important thing for me is to love my sport, enjoy it, and improve. There's definitely a lot of eyes and attention on you, but I enjoy it. I really enjoy what I do and want to be the best in the world. Everything else is secondary. The fame, influence, money, and all that stuff are not even super relevant to me and why I do what I do. I do it because I love it. I surround myself with people with the same mindset as me. We would do this if, you know, it was in front of a million people or if it was just in a gym by ourselves. So that's where my love for the sport and motivation comes from. It's not from external things like money or fame. It's because I love it."
In his 2022 debut on the DWCS, he defeated Zachary Borrego via a rear-naked choke submission early in the first round. Although he had an impressive performance, Dana White elected not to sign the prospect due to lack of experience. Nickal quickly changed that after his second fight when he submitted Donovan Beard in 52 seconds via a triangle choke. He didn't absorb a single significant strike in either fight. This made him undeniable, so White signed him up for the UFC at 3-0. Since then, Nickal has had an undefeated UFC career, going 3-0, where all of his fights have ended in a finish.
TEAMWORK MATTERS
Nickal credits his time with the American Top Team as crucial to his success, being able to train with some of the best fighters and coaches the sport has to offer.
"I'm really fortunate to be part of American Top Team,” he says. “There are so many amazing coaches, fighters, and individuals who have competed at the highest level and not only just competed but have been consistent. I've always looked to surround myself with the best of the best, and I would say guys like Mike Brown have been super important, as far as coaching is concerned. He's the guy I lean on the most for any strategy, tactics, and techniques. So, I'm working with Coach Brown quite a bit. I actually just got done doing a film study session with him. I've also been working with Thiago Alves in the striking department. He was obviously a highly successful UFC fighter, a decorated striker, and he had a bunch of crazy knockouts, and he's a guy I've been learning a lot from. Training partner-wise, I'm working with Johnny Eblen quite a bit. He's a world champion, an undefeated middleweight fighter, and one of the highest-level competitors in the world. I don't know his full name, but we call him Shoeface (Antônio Carlos Júnior). He's a PFL champion and a Brazilian black belt and fought in the UFC. He's got a lot of experience, so he's also helped me out for this camp too. So, there are so many guys down here who are amazing partners, and I try to spend as much time down here as possible."
THE FIRST REAL CHALLENGE
Although he's had a great start to his career in MMA, a small minority of fans believe he's had an easy road in the UFC. With his upcoming bout against Craig ever closer, Nickal believes this fight should remove any doubts.
"This is a massive opportunity for me,” he says, sitting up straighter. “This is the biggest fight of my life, the biggest opportunity in my life. But that's always been my mindset. Whatever's ahead of me, whatever's next, is the most important thing to me. That's what's on my mind, and this is definitely an awesome opportunity. It's a big step up in competition. Craig's beaten better guys than anybody that I've fought, and he's had more success and more finishes over high-level guys. So, he's a dangerous opponent, but with all that being said, I feel ready and prepared. This has been one of, if not the most challenging, training camps I've done. I think for sure, in my MMA career, the hardest training camp that I've done, and even looking back at some of the wrestling training camps that I've had, I would say this is right up there with the hardest that I've trained and prepared. I feel excited and ready to go, and I'm looking forward to continuing on this path of improvement and development and getting better at fighting. My main priority is just seeing how good I can be, and I don't want to put limits on myself or feel like there's an end of the road. This is just a lifelong journey, and I'm always going to try to continue improving myself and getting better."
A STRATEGIC PLAN
The Craig match-up presents a unique challenge for Nickal, who is also excellent at finding submissions on the mat.
"I'm a big film study guy, so I'm always looking for my opponent's weaknesses and their strengths, seeing and trying to figure out a game plan and what makes sense,” he says. “When you look at Paul Craig, of course, he has many submission victories against high-level guys, and that's definitely a strong suit. You've also seen a little bit of a lack in the striking department, and there's a lot of opportunity for me to exploit that, but in the grappling and wrestling exchanges, I can come out on top of those as well. I want to go out there and dominate every second of the fight, control the range, pace, and clock, and be able to take whatever's there for me. So, if that comes via strikes if that comes via take down ground and pound. If that comes via submission, I will be ready to do whatever I need to do. So, it's not having just a singular set-in-stone path to victory. There are many paths to victory, and I believe that I'm continuing to work on the fundamentals of everything I do. You know, striking, jiu-jitsu, and even wrestling, continuing to master fundamentals. So that way, I can use all those tools."
ACTIVE AMBITIONS
Should UFC 309 go as Nickal expects, he plans to be as active as possible in 2025 while slowly moving closer to his goal of becoming the world's number one pound-for-pound fighter.
"I want to get a couple more fights under my belt before I get a ranked fight, but I also want a quick turnaround,” he says. “Every time I fight, I learn so much, and I improve. So, there's not a long ladder to the top of the division, but I want to continue to be patient and improve and develop my skills. So, I'd love to get a couple more fights before I fight a ranked guy, but I also want to avoid taking these long, six-, seven, eight-month layoffs. I want to crank these fights out quicker because I love competing, and competing for me is the most fun part of what I get to do. If I can go out there and get a finish or perform how I want to at UFC 309, then I would love to have a quick turnaround and fight in early 2025 and then do it again and another quick turnaround and hopefully get at least three, if not four fights in the next year. I don't know, nine months to a year. I would love to continue to crank out fights. Even if I'm not fighting a ranked guy, I would like to have a quick turnaround on this next one."
What Nickal has achieved in just three years of competing in MMA is quite remarkable. With his current trajectory, the sky is well and truly the limit. Should he pass the test that is ‘Bearjew’ Craig on November 16, then he could be the fighter to follow in 2025.
