Bo Nickal desires to be an plain UFC champion.
Nickal (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) takes on Paul Craig (17-8-1 MMA, 9-8-1 UFC) in a middleweight bout Nov. 16 on the UFC 309 principal card at Madison Sq. Backyard. Regardless of his dominance within the octagon, Nickal has opted to take an enough period of time between every struggle. He continues to get criticized for his lack of exercise, however the standout wrestler explains how his scenario is totally different.
“For me, crucial factor is creating, and I don’t need to skip steps on growth,” Nickal stated on the “MightyCast” podcast. “You talked about Diego Lopes. … These guys have 20-plus professional fights. He feels he’s able to go. I fought six occasions in a bit over two years. So, is that rare? I wouldn’t say it’s rare. I believe folks possibly neglect that I’ve solely been combating for the reason that summer time of 2022 professionally. However with that being stated, I believe it’s actually a superb factor as a result of folks need to see me struggle. They need to see me compete, and personally I need to compete as a lot as I can, however on the finish of the day, it’s like, let’s say I struggle a ranked man subsequent, then I struggle a prime 5 man, after which I’m combating for the title. It’s not like this lengthy path that I’ve to get to the place I need to go.
“So for me, the event and the advance, quite a lot of it has to occur in coaching. I really feel like I can compete with and beat one of the best guys on the planet proper now, however I don’t need it to be aggressive when it occurs. So, after I go on the market and I’m competing for the belt, I need it to appear to be a masterclass the place this man’s not even on my degree. I believe proper now there’s quite a lot of enhancements that I have to make to get to that time. I believe that it’s not all one hundred pc as much as me with the timing of how issues work out, however I’m going to do my greatest to be ready. And I really feel like I’ve been put ready the place I’ve to make these enhancements in coaching, and I don’t have the luxurious of having the ability to get 15-20 fights earlier than I’m there. Like I’m realistically most likely going to be there at 10-11 fights.”
Along with his expertise and notable wins over former UFC gentle heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill and prime contender Magomed Ankalaev, Craig presents Nickal’s hardest check thus far on paper.
Nonetheless, oddsmakers nonetheless have Nickal as a heavy favourite. In keeping with DraftKings, Nickal is a -1000 favourite over Craig, who’s a +600 underdog.
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