Nickal is not like other MMA prospects: his collegiate wrestling career was top notch even among top wrestlers. His transition to MMA has been stunningly smooth thus far. He trains alongside the likes of Jorge Masvidal at American Top Team.

Nickal is getting a step up in week ten, entering his second fight of this DWCS season against Donovan Beard. The reigning CFFC middleweight champion, Beard is battle-tested, but was likely losing his title fight prior to landing a Hail Mary submission in the fourth round against Miles Lee.

Can he stop Nickal’s takesdowns? How far has Nickal developed in such a shot time? Those questions were among several set to be answered in the fight.

Dana White’s Contender Series 56 takes place Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card airs live on ESPN+ in the U.S., and UFC Fight Pass internationally. Full results can be found below.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 10 Results

Middleweight: Bo Nickal def. Donovan Beard via R1 Submission (Triangle) 0:52
Lightweight: Sam Patterson def. Vinicius Cenci via R2 Submission (Rear-naked choke) 4:18
Featherweight: Jack Jenkins def. Freddy Emiliano Linares via R3 TKO 4:30
Flyweight: Rafael Ramos Estevam def. Joao Elias via R2 TKO 2:25
Bantamweight: Mateus Mendonça def. Ashiek Ajim via R1 KO 0:48

Contract Winners:

Bo Nickal

Mateus Mendoca

Rafael Estevam

Jack Jenkins

Sam Patterson

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 10 Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Bo Nickal (2-0 MMA)

Age: 26 years old

Height: 6’1″ / Reach: 76″

Weight Class: Middleweight (185lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2022, Week 3

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Zack Borrego (3-1 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2022, Week 10

New Opponent: Donovan Beard (7-1 MMA)

First DWCS Fight

Bo Nickal competed in his first Contender Series match-up earlier this season in week three when he completely dismantled his opponent.

Bo’s competitor opened the bout with an ill-advised flying knee and when he landed was swiftly taken off his feet by a blast double leg takedown.

It was all down hill from there for Bo’s opponent as Bo was able to look for some ground and pound.

Bo’s opponent returned to his feet while Nickal threatened a guillotine to force him back to the mat before smoothly transitioning to the back.

Bo was able to squeeze on a rear naked choke and submit his opponent in just over a minute in the first round in an extremely dominant performance. Unfortunately Bo didn’t receive a contract but was invited back to compete on the Contender Series again. In that sense, it’s not a redemption story that Nickal is writing — but it is a second chance.

First Contender Series Opponent

Bo’s first Contender Series opponent, Zack Borrego, entered the bout with an undefeated 3-0 record in pro MMA.

Borrego also had a 3-3 amateur MMA record accumulated between 2020 and 2021.

Borrego has not fought since he faced Bo Nickal nearly two months ago, but he does have a fight scheduled.

Zack is slated to take on 4-0 Lajuan Davis in the co-main event of Fury FC 70 on October 14th.

Bo is so early on in his MMA career that any experience is good experience, and as a result this bout and win has aged fine (even though its almost too fresh to have really aged at all).

The Road Back

Bo’s Contender Series appearances are just 49 days apart and it was announced that he would be brought back for another shot immediately, so Bo has not fought since the first appearance.

Bo’s second DWCS appearance was booked less than a week after his first DWCS appearance. 

Nickal created a huge buzz with his dominant DWCS performance and has been continually training to quickly improve his MMA skills from beyond his world-class wrestling base.

Gameplan/New Opponent 

For Bo’s second appearance on the Contender Series he will be getting a step up in competition and experience in the form of Donovan Beard.

Beard is 7-1 in MMA as a pro and was 6-3 as an amateur.

Donovan’s opponents combined record is 20-10 (entering their fights with Beard), and the first 3 opponent that he faced were making their pro debuts.

Beard has three submission finishes to his record and two TKO/KO finishes to his record.

Beard won the vacant Cage Fury FC Middleweight Championship in his last fight when he was able to submit a 3-0, Miles Lee in the 4th round with a triangle choke. Donavan was getting bested by Lee (who was 5-0 as an MMA amateur, as he was completely out-wrestled up until he was able to lock in a triangle off his back in the second to last round to pull of an improbable comeback.

Bo Nickal will look to become the 6th and final redemption fighter of the 2022 Contender Series season to earn a UFC contract. Bo is by far the most high profile fighter on this season of the Contender Series. And Bo likely possess the highest ceiling of potential of any fighter on the show this season as well. This will be a fight/signing that fans will not want to miss. 

The post Redemption: Second Chances on Dana White’s Contender Series — Bo Nickal appeared first on Cageside Press.

Our picks and predictions are set, so for one last time this year, let’s take a look!

Middleweight: Bo Nickal Vs. Donovan Beard

Tale of the tape

Pros and Cons

Prediction: All the attention is on the NCAA Division I wrestler Bo Nickal, who is fighting for the second time on this season’s Contender Series.

Nickal blasted through Zach Borrego in August and is fighting a tougher guy this time out. The matchmakers know what they are doing with this fight though. On paper, Beard has a nice-looking record and is the CFFC champion. When you look into it however, Beard was getting dominated in that title fight until he pulled off the Hail Mary submission.

Beard’s biggest weakness is his takedown defense and what a terrible weakness to have against Nickal. This should be a walk in the park for Nickal and it should be another first-round finish for the NCAA wrestler.

The post DWCS 2022 Week 10 Breakdown and Predictions appeared first on Cageside Press.

Nickal (2-0), a decorated collegiate wrestler and one of the hottest MMA prospects in years, appeared on week three of DWCS this year, picking up a dominant win over Zachary Borrego. Even more impressive, Borrego had missed weight, but Nickal didn’t even flinch.

He did not, however, have a contract awarded, and was instead brought back for a second fight. That might raise some eyebrows, given that UFC President Dana White signed a 17-year old just last week, but on the other hand, it was only Nickal’s second pro fight.

You can assume that with a win on Tuesday, Nickal will be in the UFC — though he gets his toughest test to date against Donovan Beard.

Beard is a CFFC veteran, and currently holds the promotion’s middleweight title.

Weigh-ins for Dana White’s Contender Series 56 take place Monday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Full results can be found below.

Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 10 Weigh-In Results

Middleweight: Bo Nickal (185.5) vs. Donovan Beard (184)
Lightweight: Sam Patterson (155) vs. Vinicius Cenci (155)
Featherweight: Freddy Emiliano Linares (144.5) vs. Jack Jenkins (145.5)
Flyweight: João Elias (125) vs. Rafael Ramos Estevam (126)
Bantamweight: Ashiek Ajim (135.5) vs. Mateus Mendonça (134.5)

The post Dana White’s Contender Series Season 6, Week 10 Weigh-In Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Atop the card, Miles Lee, entering the night an undefeated 3-0, had a chance to claim the vacant Cage Fury FC 185lb title when he took on Donovan Beard. It was Beard’s second time fighting for CFFC, and second time headlining one of their cards; he was looking for both his first win in the promotion as well as the title.

In the co-main event, welterweight Raheam Forest, who was the man who had beaten Beard under the CFFC banner, giving him his only pro loss, was set to face Trevor Ollison.

CFFC 111 goes down live on Friday, July 29, 2022, airing on UFC Fight Pass. The preliminary card kicks off at 7PM ET, full results from the event can be found below.

CFFC 111: Lee vs. Beard Results

Main Card

Donovan Beard def. Miles Lee by submission (triangle choke), Round 4, 2:09  – for the Cage Fury FC middleweight title
Raheam Forest def. Trevor Ollison by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 2:43
Beau Samaniego Round def. DeAndre Anderson by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 4:57
Jon Piersma def. TJ Welch by submission (mounted guillotine choke), Round 1, 1:26
Dakota Smith def. Nehemias Cruz by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:23
Petera Wilson def. Stanley Tippins by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

Kris Williams def. Joseph Tran by TKO (strikes), Round 2, 2:55
Chase Mann def. Quadarrius McGinnis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Nick Delahoussaye def. Kris Cloud by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 1:25
Gil Cuzdey def. Casey McDonald by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 0:15
Alzarius Boykins def. Chris Betancourt by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 2:24

Reggie Adams vs. Justice Lamperez
Isaac Watkins vs. Trey Manley

The post CFFC 111: Lee vs. Beard Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.