Las Vegas, NV — “Now is the least fun part, and the most fun part, all rolled into a week,” Bo Nickal said during Wednesday’s UFC 300 media day, asked about fight camp finally being over.
Nickal had planned on taking some time off after his last fight, his fifth in less than a year. Now, the undefeated middleweight prospect with a 5-0 record faces Cody Brundage on the milestone UFC tricentennial, which isn’t something Nickal was anticipating. Especially not the pair’s main card placement.
“I didn’t expect it. I think that it’s a big honor for me to be where I’m at on this card, and just to be on this card in general, because there’s so many amazing fighters and so many guys that have a ton of experience and who are just doing big things in the sport.”
Behind Nickal, an NCAA champion in collegiate wrestling, on the UFC 300 card are the likes of former champs Holly Holm, Jessica Andrade, Jiri Prochazka, Cody Garbrandt, and Deiveson Figueiredo.
“I feel like it says a lot about me, about the UFC and our plans, and I think they align,” Nickal continued. “I’m just grateful to be where I’m at, grateful to have this platform to go do my thing.”
In his own media day appearance, Brundage suggested now was the perfect time to face Bo Nickal, with the wrestling stud still green in terms of mixed martial arts. When one journalist pondered on Wednesday as to whether Brundage might be overlooking him, Nickal was quick to side with his opponent.
“I think that makes perfect sense what he’s saying, because I’m only going to improve and get better. I think if it were up to him, he’d love to get me a year ago,” suggested Nickal. “Everybody knows my capability and what I was able to do in wrestling, and I think they obviously assumed that would translate over to fighting, and it has so far.”
“For him to say that makes perfect sense. For me, it’s just continually improving and moving forward. My goal isn’t to win- obviously I want to win this fight, but my goal is to be the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the world, and UFC champion. This is a part of that process.”
Nickal is a proud father these days, and had a chance to take his son, then barely two months old, to a wrestling meet at Penn State. Though if it’s up to him, the next generation of the Nickal lineage will forge his own way in life.
“I would love it if he chose to do something different than me, just because I feel like he can be his own person and figure out what he likes,” Nickal told Cageside Press. “And if it’s wrestling, then that’s great. I’ll obviously support him, but I definitely want to leave that up to him and let him figure that out.”
Watch the full UFC 300 media day appearance by Bo Nickal above.
