Bo Nickal wasn’t thrilled with the manner of his performance at UFC 300 but is confident he still enjoys an advantage over Khamzat Chimaev.
Nickal was taken to the second round for the first time in his career when he squared off with Cody Brundage in Las Vegas late on Saturday night, eventually scoring a rear-naked choke finish in what was the most testing bout of his young career to date.
Afterwards, Nickal issued a pair of thumbs-down to his performance in the cage, and later said that he was disappointed at allowing himself to be taken into a brawl at one point in the first frame. Nickal’s criticism was matched by his middleweight rival Khamzat Chimaev, who issued his thoughts on social media afterwards to say that, “This wrestling was big bullsh*t.”
This wrestling was big bullshit 🤣🤦🏻♂️
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 14, 2024
Speaking in the post-fight press conference, though, the former Penn State wrestling sensation said that his skills far surpass those of Chimaev.
“This guy’s crazy, man,” Nickal said with a smile. “Obviously, like I said, I’m not happy with the way I performed either, so it’s easy to be critical. It’s easy to be critical of me, a guy who has less experience, but at the end of the day, I’m getting finishes, this guy is winning decisions. He’s gassing out at the end of rounds, I’m widening the gap.
“If we ever fight, he’s coming out hot, but I’m probably winning the first round, second round, third round against this dude and widening the gap. Every day I’m widening the gap on that guy, to be honest.”
Chimaev is expected to fight former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker on June 22.
