UFC middleweight star Bo Nickal was well on his way to becoming an American wrestling legend before he found mixed martial arts. Already on the list of all-time great collegiate wrestlers, the Penn State alum won three NCAA D1 titles, the US Nationals, and the Under-23 World Championship. However, like many of his fellow fighters, he found the UFC and fell in love with the sport. So much so that in 2019, determined to become a UFC champ, and looking for a new challenge to test his skills, the American started his fateful transition to MMA.

Three years later, he had taken the first steps towards achieving his dream by signing with the UFC. While he has undoubtedly been very impressive in his short stint in the promotion, the hype around him is palpable. So palpable that even Jon Jones acknowledged his greatness.

Jon Jones on Bo Nickal being called the ‘next GOAT’

While Jon Jones is not as accomplished as Bo Nickal in wrestling, the UFC heavyweight champ did win an NJCAA championship before he started his fledgling MMA career. In MMA, however, ‘Bones’ is many people’s (including Dana White’s) pick for the greatest of all time. And while the former light heavyweight champ is famously flaky and dismissive of any fighters being compared with him, he does seem to hold Nickal in high regard.

What ‘Bones’ thought about Nickal was evident in a reply to a comment that called Nickal the “next goat of the UFC.” “Man, how cool would that be. Another American wrestler doing his thing,” Jones wrote in response to the post on X. Of course, Bo Nickal, for all his wrestling achievements and undefeated MMA record, is still only six fights into his career.

While his grappling is top-notch and he has stopped all six opponents he’s faced, the 3X NCAA champ has yet to face a ranked opponent in the UFC, which would be the first real test of his abilities as a mixed martial artist. MMA, after all, is not wrestling. Striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are as important parts of the sport as wrestling.

While his striking may not be quite world-class as of yet, thankfully, Bo Nickal’s BJJ skills are top-notch.

When Bo Nickal nearly defeated an entire BJJ dojo

Bo Nickal is not one to turn down a challenge. This is why when the Penn State alum was invited to a BJJ class when he was still in college, he jumped on the opportunity. What happened next added to the lore of his already impressive combat sports career and proved how good he really was.

One by one, Nickal proceeded to defeat the grapplers in the dojo, starting with a white belt, followed by a blue, purple, and brown belt. The wrestler, who had no prior BJJ training, did so based solely on the moves he had seen in the UFC on TV. It took the trainer of the dojo, a black belt holder, to finally beat him at a sport he had never previously tried before.

All of this has made him one of the hottest prospects in the sport of MMA and even earned him the respect of Jon Jones, who is not easy to impress. However, any GOAT talks are a bit premature, even if ‘Bones’ has seemingly given the champion wrestler his vote of confidence for it.