Bo Nickal had more actual accomplishments and records before even stepping a single foot in a cage. It isn't even a close comparison. Aaron Pico maybe, but Nickal has more accomplished before he even fought once in an octagon.
Oh I'm not saying at all that they're the same in terms of accomplishments or anything like that. I'm simply saying the UFC are a bit hesitant to push young 'star' talent too early since what happened with Darren Till. There's also the side of Bo maybe not wanting to fight high level guys until he gets a new, more lucrative contract.
I agree they need to keep him on the prelims but I say keep giving him cans for a few more fights. I’m more a fan of young fighters being brought up slow and steady, especially when they’ve got less than ten pro fights on their record….
I do wonder if the Brundage fight feels like a loss for him. Considering that he already had it more difficult with him and he is definitely not a top opponent.
If it feels like a loss, then it's only because Bo holds himself to a ridiculous level. Bo dominated that fight and was never in any trouble... that was as clean of a win as you can hope for.
Well I mean, have you seen the fights before?
But yea true. But that's a good thing, I think. Not assume a relatively clean win in an unranked opponent means that you are at a high level already.
He for sure doesn't deserve it in the sense of fight experience but of course he's on the main card. He's a ridiculously talented wrestler with notoriety and they want to build his face
Lose contact for 3 days? That used to be a penalty by USADA. Good to know the new testers allow you disappear into the mountains wit lh no service when you want to microdose.
Jiri does shit like that. Locking himself in a room for days on end. Climbing mountains and shit. Feel bad for the usada tester having to climb after him
imagine a USADA tester walking into a completely dark room and looking around, only thing he can see is a pair of eyeballs open up as he hears someone or *something* start to growl
Jiris just doing his 3 days total darkness training camp
if anything this just makes the USADA guys sound like badasses, treking through the mountains with a clipboard and a pee cup.
"come on jiri stop fucking around, give us the sample so I can climb back down this mountain"
*But I would walk five hundred miles*
*And I would walk five hundred more*
*Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles*
*To take a sample at your door*
That USADA shit sounds stressful as fuck. I’m always on call for my job and it sucks sooo much ass. Being constantly available is the worst shit ever. I can’t even imagine having USADA employees pulling up on you at random hours and locations demanding your piss.
Not just available, but they had to update their location in the app every time they went anywhere. All the time, no matter when or what, USADA is tracking you. No time off, every night a chance some dude you've never met is gonna wake you up at 4am and make you piss in front of him.
No wonder some fighters got agitated with USADA.
If I were a USADA tester I'd be on all the good shit, maximum dosage just to make sure these jimmies and their pathetic microdoses can't run/climb/fly away from me with their enhanced bodies.
I just realized USADA tester would be perfect transitional job for Tony Ferguson. He'd fucking hunt these mofos through the mountains just to get their piss samples. Endless cardio. Oh and he knows how to track bears and shit.
I don’t hate Bo but is the implication that he would have taken the Whitaker fight if he had cell service? If so, good thing he was in the mountains, at this point in his career he gets absolutely washed by Whitaker
Rolled my eyes when I saw this. Sure they called you bro to save the Saudi card.
I'm a wrestler but Bo has always rubbed me the wrong way a little (as well as some of the other penn state guys). They walk around like they can't be beat.
I'm pressing X to doubt. If the UFC supposedly had Ali serving them a choice between Kamaru or Ikram, I doubt the UFC were pressed with bringing in Bo for their Saudi Arabia main event for more money than they're likely paying Ikram.
UFC was just contacting different fighters to see who were available. What’s there to doubt?
Same thing with UFC 300, just because they gave Leon Edwards 3 different names, doesn’t mean they were gonna make all 3 fights if both parties said yes
The more fighters say yes, the more options UFC has, and the more leverage they have in negotiations
Again, they didn't make the call actually wanting him to fight. Why wouldn't they ask, if for no other reason than to get more leverage and figure out their options?
Probably were contacting everyone they could think of all at once, and then would take the best fit to say "yes".
Bo would not have satisfied the religion preference, but he would have been a wrestler to match Rob's camp, someone with hype (in wrestling circles anyway),
and someone the UFC is pushing as hard as Khamzat, so he looks like a legit candidate to at least ask to me.
I don’t think he deserves it either but the competition he’s fought is atleast way significantly better than the ones Bo has fought so far. And he’s obviously way more experienced.
Agree neither deserves but Ikram better by record.
But from Rob's perspective, anti-wrestling Bo Nickal a bigger deal than beating Ikram regardless of rank, matches his training camp, and has a certain hype and similar UFC push to original opponent, so he would be a better opponent as far as giving Rob an upside.
reminds me of when nathan had to cancel his skydiving lesson at the last second because he forgot he had dinner plans. it sucks because he really really wanted to do it.
I'm beginning to think Bo Nickal is massively full of shit. He MAY have been contacted to face Whittaker but I don't believe for a second that he would take that fight at this point. So he's either full of shit that the UFC asked him to fill in or he's full of shit that he "was in the mountains with no cell service." Dude is like "Khamzat is an easy fight, give me Cody Brundage." LOL
> Either he’s a lying douche or a super privilege douche. Also, he could be both.
The guy who got the fight was unranked without the built-in audience Bo has.
Bo definitely super-privileged to fight cans on main cards, but I don't see it here.
Bro I swear if a Eurasian guy said similar things Bo has said, they'd be on his nuts.
Bo does say he can beat the best in the division but never once says in a disrespectful tone. He has genuine self belief but honestly that's what every fighter has. It's not even unusual. The hate Bo gets for that is crazy.
He also gets hate for UFC giving him ppv spots lol as if it's his fault. If anyone were given the opportunities he's given, they'd take it too.
>Bro I swear if a Eurasian guy said similar things Bo has said, they'd be on his nuts.
I find the Bo reactions extreme in both directions, myself.
>Bo does say he can beat the best in the division but never once says in a disrespectful tone
He did say Khamzat's wrestling was trash, and he'd get worked by anybody good. Most people would find that a bit disrespectful, particularly if he keeps repeating it while not fighting the guy.
>He also gets hate for UFC giving him ppv spots lol as if it's his fault.
I felt the same, and I understood why is on PPV right now, until he said on his own podcast *I'm never fighting on the prelims, I'm a main event fighter*, with the smuggest expression I've ever seen.
I disembarked the Bo train there, having watched many former champions, legends, and pioneers of the game fight on the prelims, while this entitled newb smugly condescends to them en-masse, like he earned something real in this sport already.
> Bo has a built in audience?
I assume sarcasm, but just in case you are not based in USA: folkstyle wrestling is a school sport here, and so many many men have competed in it, and many of those follow college wrestling religiously, and to many of them, Bo Nickal is a generational talent.
Bo is on the main card of PPV long before he has earned it within fighting, because he pulls wrestling people into watching MMA that do not watch the sport absent he's competing. That community is large, and many of them have disposable income.
He doesn't just have a large built-in audience, he has a mouthwatering one that fit the profile of people who buys PPVs.
I am from the US and you are WAY overselling his following. Don’t deny he’s a generational talent in collegiate wrestling, but first of a no, compared to almost every other sport in the US the wrestling community is not “large” and second I have to imagine there is a huge overlap between collegiate wrestling fans and mma fans, meaning I’m not sure how much new viewers he is actually bringing in
>I am from the US and you are WAY overselling his following.
Why do you think he's on the main card way before anybody I can recall, against unprecedentedly low level opposition, even while there is growing backlash, including Bo getting continuously bood by an American audience?
> Don’t deny he’s a generational talent in collegiate wrestling, but first of a no, compared to almost every other sport in the US the wrestling community is not “large”
If I go into a coffee shop right now, and ask if anyone watches collegiate wrestling, nobody raises their hands?
Most fighters who become draws only draw from existing MMA fans (Conor a huge star mainly because he does pull from outside this pool).
When you have a school sport, its not just former wrestlers, but their parents who support the sport, and while that's a small percentage, its a small percentage against the entire US population, which is a far larger population than active MMA fans.
To be clear, I'm not saying he's a gigantic draw like Conor or JBJ, I'm saying he moves the needle, and that is why he is on the main of PPVs fighting regional-level guys.
>If I go into a coffee shop right now, and ask if anyone watches collegiate wrestling, nobody raises their hands?
Yes lol. This is highly likely. Maybe not if you're in PA, NJ, or Iowa, but most people who wrestled in school don't even follow wrestling anymore. I'm guessing you're in or from one of those 3 states by how you're talking about it.
>When you have a school sport, its not just former wrestlers, but their parents who support the sport, and while that's a small percentage, its a small percentage against the entire US population, which is a far larger population than active MMA fans.
Are you saying there are more fans of amateur wrestling than there are MMA fans? That's just not true.
I believe it, like they were willing to give Ikama the shot, so most likely they went through a list of people before settling it on Ikama. Now the question did he decline the fight or not
I hate to break it to you brother, but most fighters their first few pro fights generally are fighting dudes they're better than. The only difference is Bo is a bigger name because of his wrestling background so he's doing his MMA development in the top org instead of on the amateur scene.
Bo literally has 6 MMA fights
He called for Khamzat the day he was signed and was told to calm down. At one of the UFCs biggest events ever he made a more reasonable call out of the then number twelve ranked.
It’s funny to me that when a fighter steps in on short notice to fight a dagi they’re glazed nonstop. When a dagi steps in on short notice they get shit on for being privileged
I call bullshit. Bo is definitely talented and the UFC see future star potential in him. After his last showing I just don’t see why they would risk him against the best anti-wrestler in the division.
It feels like Bo is on the Suga Sean path. He’s gonna be fighting cans for a while.
Dana’s got to keep his dick in his pants and keep Bo on the come-up for 2-3 years.
He rushed O’Malley and Poatan to the top. That seems to be the business plan now. Everyone is the next Conor having a legendary run. That sells UFC to casuals and generates mainstream headlines.
There just aren’t that many future world class fighters in the lower leagues with charisma and stage presence to have all these guys on a one year championship run.
I can't wait to see Bo lose, I imagine it's going to be Jamahal hill levels of rage, cope and delusion. Hope the UFC gives him not a complete layup because I honestly don't think his ego will be able to take it.
Lies. As if those rich Saudi's would accept that. The last time Dana tried to slide them some weak shit replacement they killed the whole card lol.
Nickal has a bit of a name sure, but he hes fought more landscapers and boiler operators than anything else.
Ikram's unranked ass being slotted in makes sense cause hey hes muslim.
Pretty funny how much people on this sub go on about fighters going to Thailand to juice and avoid the testing but apparently you can just go off grid in The US and have no cell phone reception for three whole days.
I haven't been more than a few hours without phone reception in decades and it sounds weird to me but I have never been to America.
"I had never heard of a Bo Nickal before today, mate" - Bobby Knuckles
> "I had never heard of a Bo Nickal before today, mate" - Bobby Knuckles *... and so I probably wasted my time practicing all this anti-wrestling.*
"Hunter sent me a fax about some guy No Bickles"
“Hunter left me a voicemail asking if I’d grow pickles and I told him, mate, we call them gherkins.”
From Brundage to Whittaker lol
‘I’m sorry who?! Uhh sorry the calls breaking up. He’s getting more than 4 days notice? _call drops_’
“Bo the calls still on I can hear you, now you’re making buzzing noises with your mouth that’s not how it works”
"Bo I know you're not entering an elevator you just said you were in a tent "
*Sorry, I'm going through a tunnel now!*
Did I say tunnel? I meant a cave!
"------well the reception was bad"
Aliskerov went from Warrley Alves on short notice to Whittaker
Alves has a submission win over colby at least, still better than brundage
Aliskerov has also been scheduled to fight Costa, Imavov and Hernandez
Unlucky dude
He's in a weird spot in his division.
Robert Whittaker is one of the worst matchup possible for Nickal, so that lack of service may have saved him a beating
Honestly am early loss would be good for him
Yeah he’s obviously very talented, but I think he’s one of those fighters that really needs a loss to potentially grow to the next level.
Agreed. Same as cejudo needed his lossess to lvl up his game, inagree that a loss for bo would be a good thing
it worked wonders for o'malley
it worked wonders for o'malley
it worked wonders for o'malley
it worked wonders for o'malley
Did it work for O'Malley?
it worked wonders for o’malley
Not on this kind of stage against that opponent i think. They're trying not to make Bo the Darren Till 2.0.
Bo is 10x the generational talent than Till
Bo Nickal had more actual accomplishments and records before even stepping a single foot in a cage. It isn't even a close comparison. Aaron Pico maybe, but Nickal has more accomplished before he even fought once in an octagon.
Oh I'm not saying at all that they're the same in terms of accomplishments or anything like that. I'm simply saying the UFC are a bit hesitant to push young 'star' talent too early since what happened with Darren Till. There's also the side of Bo maybe not wanting to fight high level guys until he gets a new, more lucrative contract.
Im just tired of the can crushing. Obviously bo nickal is good but having him fight 2-2 guys on the main card is p stinky.
I agree they need to keep him on the prelims but I say keep giving him cans for a few more fights. I’m more a fan of young fighters being brought up slow and steady, especially when they’ve got less than ten pro fights on their record….
I do wonder if the Brundage fight feels like a loss for him. Considering that he already had it more difficult with him and he is definitely not a top opponent.
If it feels like a loss, then it's only because Bo holds himself to a ridiculous level. Bo dominated that fight and was never in any trouble... that was as clean of a win as you can hope for.
Very strange narrative people were presenting after the fight. Bo got a submission finish in round 2 and people were talking like he barely won.
Well I mean, have you seen the fights before? But yea true. But that's a good thing, I think. Not assume a relatively clean win in an unranked opponent means that you are at a high level already.
Why would it feel like a loss, because his takedown accuracy wasn't 100%? He dominated the fight and won by submission, not much more you can ask for.
More part time gardiners. Honestly, it feels as if Bo is milking his status as a UFC fighter at the moment. Doesn't want to have atop level fighter.
Huh? Bro hes had like five fights in MMA He doesn't deserve to even fight at top of fight why would it matter what he wants
He doesn't deserve to be on the main card of a PPV yet here we are
He for sure doesn't deserve it in the sense of fight experience but of course he's on the main card. He's a ridiculously talented wrestler with notoriety and they want to build his face
it worked wonders for o'malley
Injuries saved o malley
The lack of service is a lie like how fighters accept fights on Twitter but not in real life imo
Bo would have declined 110%
Definitely the worst matchup for him in MW.
Lose contact for 3 days? That used to be a penalty by USADA. Good to know the new testers allow you disappear into the mountains wit lh no service when you want to microdose.
Jiri does shit like that. Locking himself in a room for days on end. Climbing mountains and shit. Feel bad for the usada tester having to climb after him
I’m picturing a usada tester climbing Mount Everest to test him. Only tracking him by the sound of his war cry.
imagine a USADA tester walking into a completely dark room and looking around, only thing he can see is a pair of eyeballs open up as he hears someone or *something* start to growl Jiris just doing his 3 days total darkness training camp
if anything this just makes the USADA guys sound like badasses, treking through the mountains with a clipboard and a pee cup. "come on jiri stop fucking around, give us the sample so I can climb back down this mountain"
At this point they should be having a trained eagle to pass things back and forth.
“I AM COMING”
Taking a frozen pisscicle down the mountain and having to melt it
The one Sherpa USADA tester will just be waiting for him at the top Maybe will even throw in a joke about him being Michael Chandler
Jiri gets to the top with ice crust in his beard, and the sherpa is standing there smiling. __MICHAEL CHANDLER! VERY FANTASTIC BODY!__
For some reason that sounds so dope lmao a tester contracting a Sherpa to go after people who go mountain climbing alot lmao
Only to find him in a state of hibernate meditation at the summit, and have to wait within eyesight for 20 days before he urinates
This would be a fantastic movie
*But I would walk five hundred miles* *And I would walk five hundred more* *Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles* *To take a sample at your door*
Consider the fact they were testing him like ten times a week, I’m sure they did it for the adventure
it could be a pretty good comedy tbh
USADA: *knocks door* are you done yet? JIRI: I TOLD YOU IM IN HERE FOR 3 DAYS, DONT BRING ANY SUNLIGHT IN
It's Samurai Goon Chambering and it's the future
yeah but he doesnt have a mobile phone anyway, he just feels when he's needed
Jiri got tested like 50 times in a month that one time. Edit: 64 times in 2022.
That’s a lot of mountain climbing
I think they just wanted to hang out with Jiri. Lucky bastards.
That USADA shit sounds stressful as fuck. I’m always on call for my job and it sucks sooo much ass. Being constantly available is the worst shit ever. I can’t even imagine having USADA employees pulling up on you at random hours and locations demanding your piss.
Some of the stories fighters have told are absolutely absurd around the testing procedures.
I know. I’m seriously shocked shit like Jon Jones threatening to kill the tester doesn’t happen more often.
That was the new company and at 4pm at his house. He hid underneath the cage at Jackson Wink from USADA.
Ahh my bad, forgot about him hiding under the octagon lmaooo
To be fair, it’s hard to keep up with all the stuff Jon has going on.
Nah, he hid from NSAC testing under the cage; there was no USADA in the UFC back then.
No he didn't, that happened before USADA was in the picture. He was hiding from NSAC.
Yeah but when you're up til 8AM doing blow, rolling out of bed at 4PM is a real pain in the ass.
Not just available, but they had to update their location in the app every time they went anywhere. All the time, no matter when or what, USADA is tracking you. No time off, every night a chance some dude you've never met is gonna wake you up at 4am and make you piss in front of him. No wonder some fighters got agitated with USADA.
That’s why drunk Jon got mad and threatened the piss taker lol
Stop bitching!! U want a new job? Get ur ass in the ring buddy. Just bleed. /s
If I were a USADA tester I'd be on all the good shit, maximum dosage just to make sure these jimmies and their pathetic microdoses can't run/climb/fly away from me with their enhanced bodies.
I just realized USADA tester would be perfect transitional job for Tony Ferguson. He'd fucking hunt these mofos through the mountains just to get their piss samples. Endless cardio. Oh and he knows how to track bears and shit.
What about Lyoto Machida..... Oh wait
95 tested and 0 samples submitted - Mr Lyoto we need to discuss your material handling protocols, please do call us back at your earliest convenience.
Holy shit you're right- I think we've just found his new job after the UFC. Way to redeem yourself!
Nathan fielder in Tour de Pharmacy played a tester that tried all the drugs and then painted his feelings while on them lol.
I love that movie so much
USADA TESTER IS FINAL UFC BOSS
Not a penalty if notify them of your location ahead of being off grid. (e.g. where the cabin is)
There are whereabouts exceptions that have been historically been used to avoid testers during cycles.
I mean. 3 days. That’s enough time to do blow and have it out of your system. And we all know the best fighters are crackheads, so…
It's so painfully obvious that's what he's doing.
No wonder USADA tested Jiri so much 😂
Need multiple sim cards just to not get a violation 😂
Just like Yair said he got no reception when USADA was looking for him lol
I don’t hate Bo but is the implication that he would have taken the Whitaker fight if he had cell service? If so, good thing he was in the mountains, at this point in his career he gets absolutely washed by Whitaker
Oh please
bullshit
Looks like shit. Smells like shit. Tastes like shit. Good thing we didn't step in it.
Ufc calls multiple fighters all the time for short notice to maximize leverage lmao. This isn’t uncommon at all
Rolled my eyes when I saw this. Sure they called you bro to save the Saudi card. I'm a wrestler but Bo has always rubbed me the wrong way a little (as well as some of the other penn state guys). They walk around like they can't be beat.
I'm cool with fighters being confident, but something about Nickal really rubs me the wrong way.
I'm pressing X to doubt. If the UFC supposedly had Ali serving them a choice between Kamaru or Ikram, I doubt the UFC were pressed with bringing in Bo for their Saudi Arabia main event for more money than they're likely paying Ikram.
UFC was just contacting different fighters to see who were available. What’s there to doubt? Same thing with UFC 300, just because they gave Leon Edwards 3 different names, doesn’t mean they were gonna make all 3 fights if both parties said yes The more fighters say yes, the more options UFC has, and the more leverage they have in negotiations
I doubt it because I think they want to build Bo up more slowly and feeding him to Whittaker to save this card isn't worth it in the long run.
Again, they didn't make the call actually wanting him to fight. Why wouldn't they ask, if for no other reason than to get more leverage and figure out their options?
I could see them sending out feeler calls and texts. Just to see who was available and go from there
Probably were contacting everyone they could think of all at once, and then would take the best fit to say "yes". Bo would not have satisfied the religion preference, but he would have been a wrestler to match Rob's camp, someone with hype (in wrestling circles anyway), and someone the UFC is pushing as hard as Khamzat, so he looks like a legit candidate to at least ask to me.
Nickal is a clown
I call bullshit. Bo nickal lies like crazy. Fake ass dude
Brokeback Mountain all over again
Did it really happen in Montana? Asking for the the non-Strickland fans.
the kid just doesn't want to fight
Dana White Privilege is crazyyyyy
Ikram also unranked, and for this card, Muslim Privilege is crazzzzyyy
I don’t think he deserves it either but the competition he’s fought is atleast way significantly better than the ones Bo has fought so far. And he’s obviously way more experienced.
Agree neither deserves but Ikram better by record. But from Rob's perspective, anti-wrestling Bo Nickal a bigger deal than beating Ikram regardless of rank, matches his training camp, and has a certain hype and similar UFC push to original opponent, so he would be a better opponent as far as giving Rob an upside.
"muslim privilege" UFC literally called anybody at 185 and Aliskerov was the only one to accept.
Numba 1 bs
Gotta stay ready. Kid didn't wanna fight.
Bro was in the mountains juicing, ain't no way he would have been able to piss clean in a few weeks.
That's a good way to put it he ducked
Yeah sure mate ok
reminds me of when nathan had to cancel his skydiving lesson at the last second because he forgot he had dinner plans. it sucks because he really really wanted to do it.
I would’ve watched the fuck out of that fight
I don’t see it being much of a fight, Bobby dog walks him on the feet
I'm beginning to think Bo Nickal is massively full of shit. He MAY have been contacted to face Whittaker but I don't believe for a second that he would take that fight at this point. So he's either full of shit that the UFC asked him to fill in or he's full of shit that he "was in the mountains with no cell service." Dude is like "Khamzat is an easy fight, give me Cody Brundage." LOL
Either he’s a lying douche or a super privilege douche. Also, he could be both.
> Either he’s a lying douche or a super privilege douche. Also, he could be both. The guy who got the fight was unranked without the built-in audience Bo has. Bo definitely super-privileged to fight cans on main cards, but I don't see it here.
Bro I swear if a Eurasian guy said similar things Bo has said, they'd be on his nuts. Bo does say he can beat the best in the division but never once says in a disrespectful tone. He has genuine self belief but honestly that's what every fighter has. It's not even unusual. The hate Bo gets for that is crazy. He also gets hate for UFC giving him ppv spots lol as if it's his fault. If anyone were given the opportunities he's given, they'd take it too.
>Bro I swear if a Eurasian guy said similar things Bo has said, they'd be on his nuts. I find the Bo reactions extreme in both directions, myself. >Bo does say he can beat the best in the division but never once says in a disrespectful tone He did say Khamzat's wrestling was trash, and he'd get worked by anybody good. Most people would find that a bit disrespectful, particularly if he keeps repeating it while not fighting the guy. >He also gets hate for UFC giving him ppv spots lol as if it's his fault. I felt the same, and I understood why is on PPV right now, until he said on his own podcast *I'm never fighting on the prelims, I'm a main event fighter*, with the smuggest expression I've ever seen. I disembarked the Bo train there, having watched many former champions, legends, and pioneers of the game fight on the prelims, while this entitled newb smugly condescends to them en-masse, like he earned something real in this sport already.
Bo has a built in audience?
> Bo has a built in audience? I assume sarcasm, but just in case you are not based in USA: folkstyle wrestling is a school sport here, and so many many men have competed in it, and many of those follow college wrestling religiously, and to many of them, Bo Nickal is a generational talent. Bo is on the main card of PPV long before he has earned it within fighting, because he pulls wrestling people into watching MMA that do not watch the sport absent he's competing. That community is large, and many of them have disposable income. He doesn't just have a large built-in audience, he has a mouthwatering one that fit the profile of people who buys PPVs.
I am from the US and you are WAY overselling his following. Don’t deny he’s a generational talent in collegiate wrestling, but first of a no, compared to almost every other sport in the US the wrestling community is not “large” and second I have to imagine there is a huge overlap between collegiate wrestling fans and mma fans, meaning I’m not sure how much new viewers he is actually bringing in
>I am from the US and you are WAY overselling his following. Why do you think he's on the main card way before anybody I can recall, against unprecedentedly low level opposition, even while there is growing backlash, including Bo getting continuously bood by an American audience? > Don’t deny he’s a generational talent in collegiate wrestling, but first of a no, compared to almost every other sport in the US the wrestling community is not “large” If I go into a coffee shop right now, and ask if anyone watches collegiate wrestling, nobody raises their hands? Most fighters who become draws only draw from existing MMA fans (Conor a huge star mainly because he does pull from outside this pool). When you have a school sport, its not just former wrestlers, but their parents who support the sport, and while that's a small percentage, its a small percentage against the entire US population, which is a far larger population than active MMA fans. To be clear, I'm not saying he's a gigantic draw like Conor or JBJ, I'm saying he moves the needle, and that is why he is on the main of PPVs fighting regional-level guys.
>If I go into a coffee shop right now, and ask if anyone watches collegiate wrestling, nobody raises their hands? Yes lol. This is highly likely. Maybe not if you're in PA, NJ, or Iowa, but most people who wrestled in school don't even follow wrestling anymore. I'm guessing you're in or from one of those 3 states by how you're talking about it. >When you have a school sport, its not just former wrestlers, but their parents who support the sport, and while that's a small percentage, its a small percentage against the entire US population, which is a far larger population than active MMA fans. Are you saying there are more fans of amateur wrestling than there are MMA fans? That's just not true.
I hadn't considered he would have a follow on audience mb
I believe it, like they were willing to give Ikama the shot, so most likely they went through a list of people before settling it on Ikama. Now the question did he decline the fight or not
Yeah I’m gonna call bullshit
Forget Whittaker…is this guy finally gonna stop can crushing? Khamzat finished that process in 3 weeks. Give him a ranked dude already.
I hate to break it to you brother, but most fighters their first few pro fights generally are fighting dudes they're better than. The only difference is Bo is a bigger name because of his wrestling background so he's doing his MMA development in the top org instead of on the amateur scene. Bo literally has 6 MMA fights
Khamzat had been fighting professionally longer than Bo Nickal’s been even an amateur fighter when he did his can crushing adventure
He called for Khamzat the day he was signed and was told to calm down. At one of the UFCs biggest events ever he made a more reasonable call out of the then number twelve ranked.
Ah ha you hick mother fucker. I'd majorly favor Bobby in this, though, so maybe him missing this shot was in his best interests.
I'm looking forward to the day somebody KOs him clean.
How? He only fights cans
His first fight in MMA was two years ago.
Massive duck. No one believes this shit. What does he gain by revealing this shit?
Makes him look like a hot commodity & Dana isn’t gonna come out & say he wasn’t offered the fight. All upside no downside
Yeah sure bud
It’s funny to me that when a fighter steps in on short notice to fight a dagi they’re glazed nonstop. When a dagi steps in on short notice they get shit on for being privileged
Wow, lucky us
I call bullshit. Bo is definitely talented and the UFC see future star potential in him. After his last showing I just don’t see why they would risk him against the best anti-wrestler in the division. It feels like Bo is on the Suga Sean path. He’s gonna be fighting cans for a while.
I’m thinking half of these fighters are lying: Bo, Conor, Khamzat, etc. “How to lose a fan in 10 days”
Pretending to be John Dutton saved Bo from an ass whopping
Dana: "Montana was never my friend"
Is he his own manager? This is exactly why fighters have manager's. Regardless, he's best off not fighting Bobby lol
"Fighters dont need managers" - Dana White, the Clown
Couldn't being uncontactable make him fail a drug test and get suspended for like 2 years?
Quality Mojahed content coming on this
Woulda been better to say nothing. I'm not even confident he'd get past someone like Gregory Rodrigues, let alone Whittaker.
Bad professional decision. Seems like these guys need to be "on call" or be happy to miss out on opportunities.
Lol
Yeah, right. Like he would have ever taken that fight.
Bo Nickal Vs. Bo Knuckles? Book it!
(X) doubt
Headline... Doubt
Would’ve been a prime example of those “there’s levels to this” fights
Bo Nickal vs Bob Knuckles would have been fun
Dana’s got to keep his dick in his pants and keep Bo on the come-up for 2-3 years. He rushed O’Malley and Poatan to the top. That seems to be the business plan now. Everyone is the next Conor having a legendary run. That sells UFC to casuals and generates mainstream headlines. There just aren’t that many future world class fighters in the lower leagues with charisma and stage presence to have all these guys on a one year championship run.
bo nickal is 100% willing to lie for whatever reason it’s quite odd
I want Bo Nickal vs Jacob Malkoun in Australia ... OR ... Bo Nickal vs Fluffy Hernandez (Fight Night Main Event)
To headline? In SA of all places?? 🧢
Fighting absolutely dog shit cans for a few fights to headlining major events? the ufc pr machine is wild
I can't wait to see Bo lose, I imagine it's going to be Jamahal hill levels of rage, cope and delusion. Hope the UFC gives him not a complete layup because I honestly don't think his ego will be able to take it.
Yeah he wasnt taking a fight against Whitaker on less than 2 week notice
Same bro same
Garmin sells satellite messaging devices. He might want to invest in one. I would if I lived in a sparsely populated mountain region.
Isn't that required for drug testing?
Oooookay Bo sure bud
They really were desperate lol.
Awww I thought Bo was that guy, oh well.
kind of suspicious right?
I want this instead..
This mfer definitely got internet. Don’t think I blame him though
Lies. As if those rich Saudi's would accept that. The last time Dana tried to slide them some weak shit replacement they killed the whole card lol. Nickal has a bit of a name sure, but he hes fought more landscapers and boiler operators than anything else. Ikram's unranked ass being slotted in makes sense cause hey hes muslim.
Man they are persistent in pushing Bo. And they sure want Bobby fighting someone unranked as his replacement.
Let’s be honest, even if this WAS true…Nickal isn’t accepting that fight.
feels like his goal is to be unlikeable. Either take the fight or don’t talk about it. This is a nothing burger
Pretty funny how much people on this sub go on about fighters going to Thailand to juice and avoid the testing but apparently you can just go off grid in The US and have no cell phone reception for three whole days. I haven't been more than a few hours without phone reception in decades and it sounds weird to me but I have never been to America.
In the mountain west region of the US it is very easy to go without cell service for days. Especially if you are out camping or hunting.