Bo Nickal Fighting Style: Is the Former NCAA Division 1 Champ a BJJ Black Belt?

Bo Nickal may be, perhaps the most hyped fighter in UFC history, with legendary stories already associated with him. The reason behind this is his championship pedigree, having been a three-time NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion.

On top of his wrestling acumen, Nickal has impressive stand-up skills, as evidenced by his 38-second knockout of Val Woodburn at UFC 290 last year. But, not satisfied with just wrestling, the Penn State legend has also started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to broaden his martial arts skills.

Bo Nickal’s BJJ belt

Bo Nickal started training in BJJ a few years ago, while he was still a wrestler. The Penn State alumni has admitted in subsequent interviews that he had gone to a BJJ class “to mess around”, but ended up taking to the martial art.

He even took on Gordon Ryan, arguably the greatest no-gi BJJ practitioner, in a grappling match in 2019 after only having trained “twice” in BJJ and went on to lose via a submission. Nickal has continued his BJJ training since then and has earned a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, perhaps the most astonishing is the story of his first BJJ class.

When Bo Nickal beat an entire BJJ school

Nickal was invited to a BJJ class when he was in college. While he was not a novice to grappling given his championship pedigree wrestling skills, what happened next shocked everyone and showed his natural talent.

Nickal has claimed that in that fateful class, he started off by grappling with a white belt, and to everyone’s surprise, managed to submit him using only submissions he had learned watching mixed martial arts. He then challenged a blue belt followed by a purple belt, beating both of them.

Next, he took on a brown belt who was much larger than him. Using his wrestling techniques, the American was able to pass his outsized opponent’s guard and dominate him, to the shock of everyone. His last challenge came from the instructor, a black belt, who finally managed to catch him in a half-guard. However, it is safe to say, that it showed the determination and skill level of the three-time NCAA champion, who was one of the most decorated wrestlers in the US during his wrestling days.

Bo Nickal’s accomplishments in wrestling

Bo Nickal started wrestling at the tender age of five with his talent being evident from the very beginning. He went on to make it to his high school’s varsity wrestling team in the eighth grade. After an impressive high school career (183-7, with 131 pins), he went to Pennsylvania State University, where he would go on to become a legend.

He won the Big Ten Championship in the 174 division his freshman year but lost the NCAA tournament finals. Despite this, he moved up to the 184-pound bracket the next season and went undefeated, going on to win his first NCAA tournament.

His junior year saw him build on this success and win both the NCAA championship and Big Ten Conference after another undefeated season. Given his excellent record, he was awarded the NCAA MVP of the season as well.

His senior year saw him win his third and final NCAA championship, along with his third Big Ten Conference Championship, which earned him the prestigious Dan Hodge trophy, a Schalles award, and being adjudged the Big Ten Athlete of the Year.

After graduating from college, he competed internationally as a freestyle wrestler and won the US Open in 2019, as well as the Under-23 World Championship the same year. After this, he transitioned full-time to MMA and is currently one of the most exciting prospects in the sport. Do you think Nickal will be a future champion?

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