In this video you will get to know Bo Nickals career, you will know about his wrestling background and current MMA carrer.
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00:00When the UFC 300 card hadn't been published online, there were many speculations about
00:14the participants of the tournament.
00:15There were various versions circulating, ranging from a fight between McGregor and Chandler
00:20to a bout between Khabib and Georges St-Pierre.
00:22However, reality turned out to be different, but to say that the tournament was terrible
00:26would be wrong.
00:27Just look at it.
00:28Aside from the preliminary bouts, almost all fights feature former champions.
00:31What's the catch with almost?
00:33Well, it's the second fight of the main card, where Bo Nickel will face Cody Brundage.
00:36Yes, you heard it right.
00:38Cody Brundage is just one fight away from Olivera and Sarukyan, and on his warm-up,
00:42he has yesterday's champions Prochazka and Sterling.
00:45All thanks to the rising star of wrestling, Bo Nickel.
00:48All right enough jokes, because it's much more important to first explain who this Bo
00:52Nickel guy is, and why he's listed alongside such renowned names.
00:56So today I was talking about grappling, but unfortunately, ground kung fu is not the main
01:00topic of my video, because Bo has an impeccable MMA career.
01:03He had two amateur fights, followed by five professional ones, winning each by early stoppage
01:08in the first round, never staying in the octagon for more than three minutes.
01:12Let's see who these opponents were.
01:14Nickel's first professional bout was in the Jorge Masvidal promotion, and his opponent,
01:18predictably, was another debutant named John Noland.
01:21Contrary to expectations, Nickel focused on striking, and it paid off.
01:25Although he fell hilariously once, he quickly turned off the lights for his counterpart
01:29with his hands.
01:30Bo Nickel, as you might have guessed, was a famous athlete before joining the UFC, so
01:34scouts from the Premier League had their eyes on him even before he first put on the four
01:38ounce gloves.
01:39Just after one impressive victory, Bo landed on the Dana White Contender Series.
01:43His opponent was Zachary Borrego, with a record of 3-0.
01:47From the start, Zach demonstrated a 200 IQ move by pushing forward towards the wrestler,
01:52not just any wrestler, but Bo Nickel.
01:54Naturally, Bo quickly turned his opponent, attempted a guillotine, which didn't work
01:58out, but a rear naked choke did the job in just over a minute.
02:02Strangely, after his first round victory, Bo didn't get a contract and had to go through
02:05the Contender Series again.
02:07His opponent, with a record of 7-1, seemed relatively experienced, but apparently Nickel
02:11didn't think so.
02:12He threw a left overhand, which rocked his opponent.
02:14His opponent tried to escape with a takedown, but Bo transitioned to mount and disabled
02:18his opponent's right arm.
02:19Nickel calmly let himself be reversed to close the triangle, and his opponent tapped.
02:23It was a serious statement.
02:25Firstly, Bo has a powerful punch.
02:27Secondly, the punch doesn't necessarily have to hit the target, because the overhand
02:30itself is powerful.
02:31It sets up a takedown attempt, which the NCAA champion can execute successfully.
02:35And thirdly, even if by some chance you end up on top, Nickel remains dangerous even when
02:40on his back.
02:41So, even at this early stage, he has plans A, B, and C. He's dangerous in striking,
02:46undoubtedly dangerous in wrestling, and now he's also dangerous in grappling.
02:50After just 3 fights, Bo Nickel found himself in the UFC, where he faced veteran Jimmy Pickett
02:55with a record of 13-8.
02:57Nickel's debut probably followed tradition with a funny fall on his butt after a high
03:01kick, but Pickett didn't gain any advantage from that.
03:03After a brief standing exchange, Bo took Pickett to the canvas, attempted a Darcy choke, which
03:07didn't work out, so he quickly changed his attack vector.
03:10Nickel hooked his leg to check his opponent's reaction.
03:12In NCAA, any opponent would have tried to roll away from Bo's leg immediately, but
03:16his opponent literally ignored it.
03:18Bo took advantage of this and swiftly moved to Jamie's back, landed hooks, and threatened
03:22with a rear naked choke.
03:23Although Pickett managed to turn to his face to Bo, depriving him of the chance to close
03:27the rear choke, Bo immediately switched to a more wrestling-oriented choke, a hand triangle.
03:32Despite some roughness, Nickel put his opponent to sleep, earning a performance of the night
03:35bonus in his debut fight.
03:37In his last fight, Bo Nickel faced someone who didn't represent the Stars and Stripes.
03:41Jamaican Joel Woodburn was also an undefeated prospect with a 7-0 record before meeting
03:46Nickel.
03:48On the 30th second, the American landed a stiff right hook that rocked the Jamaican,
03:53and then Bo shot him like in a shooting gallery, forcing the referee to intervene.
03:57Before we continue with his MMA career, I want to talk about his wrestling career.
04:01Nickel began his triumphant march at a young age.
04:03After graduating from high school, Bo's record was 183 wins, with 131 of them being
04:09early victories.
04:10Nickel's true recognition, as is customary in American wrestling, comes at the university
04:14level.
04:15Nickel, of course, competes in the most prestigious NCAA division, where he first won silver,
04:20and then became a champion three times in a row.
04:22Additionally, he won gold three times at the tournament, among the top ten wrestling colleges,
04:26aptly named the Big Ten.
04:28Towards the end of his reign in the top division, Bo qualified for the World Youth Championship
04:32among athletes under 23, winning it, which ultimately cemented his status as the best
04:37active athlete in collegiate wrestling.
04:39Well, there might be some inaccuracies here, but Nickel now represents freestyle wrestling
04:43as a sport in the UFC.
04:45If you thought that someone like Islam or Chemaev would be more suitable for this role,
04:49you probably don't quite distinguish freestyle wrestling from Sambo, and don't understand
04:53who Bo Nickel is.
04:55If Bo Nickel in freestyle wrestling is akin to the German national football team, then
04:59Islam and Chemaev are just hot dog vendors at the stadium at best.
05:02Because Islam doesn't have a title in freestyle wrestling, and Chemaev is a modest champion
05:06of Sweden.
05:07And yeah sure, you might ask me, why haven't we seen him at the Olympics if he's so great?
05:11Well let me tell you.
05:12The thing is, collegiate wrestling accolades don't always translate into a successful
05:16career in Olympic wrestling.
05:18The culprit here is simple anthropometry.
05:20Bo Nickel achieved all his success outside the Olympic weight category, and to continue
05:24his career, he would have had to either lose or gain weight.
05:28He chose to lose 13 puns, but unfortunately, or fortunately for us, he was stopped several
05:33times on the brink of triumph.
05:35In 2021, he lost a close fight to his teammate for a spot at the Olympics.
05:39In short, Bo Nickel is potentially one of the best wrestlers in the world in his weight
05:43class.
05:44But the problem is that this weight class doesn't exist in the main wrestling competition.
05:49By the way, that same teammate eventually won the Olympic gold.
05:52Well, let's break down his latest fight at UFC 300.
05:55Bo Nickel took down and controlled Cody Brundage for two rounds.
05:58He was so favored in this fight, and we even thought he will shoot fireballs with both
06:02hands.
06:03But the find turned out to be default.
06:04First round, takedown control, attempt submission.
06:06If in the previous fight it was easy for him to submit fighters, then in this it was
06:10clear that he needs to improve his jiu-jitsu.
06:12Cody survives, second round starts, again takedown, mount, takes the back, rear naked
06:17choke, and the fight is over.
06:19He handled his opponent confidently, but it was clear that he needs improvement.
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