Luke Rockhold has made a big claim regarding wrestling sensation Bo Nickal ahead of his own UFC 278 contest against Paulo Costa.
Nickal recently appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series 49, securing an impressive 62-second submission win and adding to the already huge hype of what he could achieve in MMA.
Despite the hype surrounding the three-time NCAA Division-1 national wrestling champion, Rockhold believes that there are levels to the game and he doesn’t see Nickal as being on the top tier.
Here is what Luke Rockhold had to say about rising MMA sensation Bo Nickal ahead of his UFC 278 contest against Paulo Costa.
Read More: UFC 278: Date, Announced Fight Card, Location, Kamaru Usman and more
Luke Rockhold on Bo Nickal
Bo Nickal took just 62 seconds to submit Zachary Borrego in his second professional appearance.
Speaking to The Schmo (via BJPenn.com), Rockhold claimed that Nickal would get ‘abused’ in the Middleweight division.
He said: “Bo Nickal would get abused – absolutely abused. It’s different. Wrestling is… you know, you can go so far until you run into the likes of me.
“But Bo, he’s an incredible character. The kid looks good, but he fought a f**king bum, so who the f**k knows?
“But I know his accolades and I know his team. I wrestle with a lot of the guys from that cycle of learning, and you know, we’ll see what the kid makes of it.”
Although he was not offered a UFC contract following his bout at Dana White’s Contender Series 49, Nickal will be competing against Donovan Beard at Dana White’s Contender Series 57, with a dominant win almost guaranteeing him a UFC contract.
Whether or not we see Rockhold vs Nickal at some point remains to be seen. But first, Rockhold has to get past #6 ranked 185-pounder Costa at UFC 278.
Read More: UFC 278 Press Conference Live Stream: How to watch
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Image Credit: UFC
For context, here is the full lineup for UFC 278 as confirmed by the official UFC website on Wednesday, August 17th 2022:
Early Prelims
- Daniel Da Silva vs Victor Altamirano – Flyweight Bout
- Aoriqileng vs Jay Perrin – Bantamweight Bout
- Amir Albazi vs Francisco Figueiredo – Flyweight Bout
- AJ Fletcher vs Ange Loosa – Welterweight Bout
Prelims
- Miranda Maverick vs Shanna Young – Women’s Flyweight Bout
- Sean Woodson vs Luis Saldana – Featherweight Bout
- Wu Yanan vs Lucie Pudilova – Women’s Bantamweight Bout
- Leonardo Santos vs Jared Gordon – Lightweight Bout
Main Card
- Tyson Pedro vs Harry Hunsucker – Light Heavyweight Bout
- Marcin Tybura vs Alexandr Romanov – Heavyweight Bout
- Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvili – Bantamweight Bout
- Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold – Middleweight Bout
- Kamaru Usman (c) vs Leon Edwards – Main Event UFC Welterweight Championship Bout
Read More: Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards 2 Predictions: Huge knockout expected?
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