Las Vegas, NV – After missing out on his original UFC debut booking due to injury Bo Nickal finally makes his first official walk to the octagon when he faces Jamie Pickett at UFC 285 on Saturday night.
“I’m just really excited you know. Obviously a big opportunity for me being on this card, being on the main card, very cool. I’m just excited overall. Excited and grateful,” Nickal told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
Pushing the fight from the original UFC 282 date to UFC 285 was a tough but necessary decision for Nickal.
“It was tough. I love competing I want to compete as much as I can and get out there as much as I can. It’s my favorite thing that I get to do. Pushing it back was difficult, but it was a good decision. I’m 100% now, ready to go, had a long camp, and put a lot of time and effort into it,” he said.
While Nickal comes into UFC 285 with a lot of hype behind him following his collegiate wrestling career, and subsequent MMA career including his stint on DWCS, there are plenty of fans who say he doesn’t deserve to be on the pain card of a big pay-per-view.
“Yeah it’s kind of a funny question because it’s not really my decision. I’m not the one that makes that call, but obviously the UFC thought that it was the right move. Personally, if it does come to my opinion, I think it’s the right move too,” said Nickal.
“I think that there’s a lot of people that want to watch me. A lot of people that want to see how I fare, and I think it makes sense. Obviously they agreed with that and if other people disagree then, you know, it’s not really up to you either.”
For Nickal this Saturday is not only a chance to shut the doubters up, but to make a defining start to his UFC career.
“I would obviously love to get a finish. I like to fight exciting style and make sure that I put on a good show for the fans, but you know for me, really success is just being the best version of myself and performing to the best of my ability. Regardless of whether I finish him a minute or win a decision in 15 I think as long as I perform the best and I feel like I gave 100% then that’s a win in my book,” he said.
The push right into a PPV is something Nickal didn’t expect right away, but takes with a laid back approach.
“It’s already been a lot faster than I anticipated. I expected to have quite a few more fights before getting to this point. Obviously there were different plans for me and I’m just riding with it,” said Nickal.
Watch the entire media day scrum with Bo Nickal above. Nickal takes on Jamie Pickett at UFC 285 on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
