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Bo Nickal Wants To Be The No. 1 Pound-For-Pound Fighter In the World

James Herrick / UFC / June 7, 2022

Bo Nickal Wants To Be The No. 1 Pound-For-Pound Fighter In the World

Three-time NCAA Wrestling National Champion Bo Nickal has high hopes for his MMA career. That is understandable after he won his professional MMA debut at iKON FC 3 with a 33-second knockout.

Bo Nickal is a special athlete. He proved that in his college wrestling days. Now, Nickal is looking to fulfill his seemingly endless potential and conquer the world of MMA.

“I’m out to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. So that’s what I want to do, that’s what I’m here to do, and that’s what I’m going to accomplish in the next five years,” Nickal said Monday on The MMA Hour.
Full quote via MMA Fighting

A lot of MMA fans may not like to hear this. At first thought, the fact that a 1-0 fighter believes they can become the best in the world is ridiculous. But Nickal is nothing like the average 1-0 fighter. He knows what it takes to get to the top.

“That’s where I will be, without a doubt, within half a decade. … No doubt in my mind,” Nickal said. “I think that it’s a long path. There’s a lot of things that can happen in five years. That’s a long time, especially in the MMA world. I’m not ignorant, I’m not oblivious, I’m not one of those dudes that says all this crazy stuff. I think these are realistic goals for me. I don’t ever set a goal out and just say it to say it, like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be world champion,’ or this and that. Like, that’s something that I’ve thought long and hard about — not only what I want to do, but the timeline behind it too. And I feel like that’s a feasible accomplishment for me.”
Full quote via MMA Fighting

For any wrestler that makes the transition to MMA, the first thing on the to-do-this is to learn how to strike. Nickal certainly has put work in on the feet. His hands look great and he displayed serious power. More importantly, he did not attempt a single takedown. That means he is comfortable on the feet. Still, Nickal knows he has more work to do in the striking department.

“Relative to my wrestling, it’s like a zero,” Nickal said. “And relative to where I think it’s going to be in two, three, four years — it might as well be a zero. I’ve been training, again, less than a year, 10 months, and I’ve made a lot of developments. And I’m not going to sit here and act like I’m a world-class striker, because I’m not, but I know where I will be soon in a few years. And the amount of energy that I put into this, I don’t think people can match that. I think I’m gaining on everybody every single day.”
Full quote via MMA Fighting

Which fighters have the best shot at being a future UFC champion?

The short-term future for Nickal will see him taking more fights on the regional scene as he looks to gain experience in an MMA cage. During this time he will look to round out his game by improving his striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The long-term future of Nickal will be interesting to watch. I am not exaggerating when I say he has endless potential. His thought process behind becoming the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter is logical and if anyone can do it, it’s Bo Nickal.

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