UFC News: Khamzat Chimaev’s Next Rival Deems Bo Nickal ‘Unworthy’ of UFC’s Top-Ten Welterweights

Bo Nickal is perhaps the most hyped prospect in the history of the UFC. And for good reason. The 28-year-old is a superstar wrestler who has won three NCAA Division 1 titles as well as the U23 international and US national championships before transitioning to MMA.

Given his championship pedigree and popularity, the UFC signed Nickal in 2022 after only three professional MMA fights (including two at Dana White‘s Contender Series). His run of form continued with his UFC 300 main card clash against Cody Brundage which he won with ease via a second round submission. However, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker thinks the promising prospect has a long way to go before he can hang with the top guys in the division.

Whittaker not sure Bo Nickal ready for the likes of Khamzat Chimaev

Robert Whittaker was asked about Bo Nickal’s UFC 300 victory over Cody Brundage. Whittaker, clearly not on the Bo Nickal hype train, felt that the bout, despite the second-round finish, showed that there were deficiencies in the champion wrestler’s game that he needed to address before aiming to fight any ranked opponents in the middleweight weight division.

Nickal has had only six pro MMA fights so far and has a hundred per cent finish rate with his latest coming against Brundage at UFC 300. After a reasonable first round, the 28-year-old managed to catch the UFC veteran in his signature rear naked choke hold, to which Brundage tapped.

However, despite Nickal’s perfect record and recent run of form, Whittaker felt the former wrestler needed to improve a lot since his show of skills so far was not exactly world class. “I think we saw some potential holes in Bo Nickal’s game… He didn’t look as good as he has previously because he’s been running through like shoo-ins for him. I think he’s got some work to do before he’s ready to fight top-ten dudes,” he said.

While there has been a lot of buzz around Nickal taking on another hyped former wrestler in Khamzat Chimaev, Whittaker’s comments seem to indicate the NCAA champion is not yet up to the challenge that ‘Borz’ poses. And just how big of a challenge Chimaev is will become even more apparent in his upcoming fight against Whittaker this summer.

Chimaev vs. Whittaker main event for first Saudi card June 22

Robert Whittaker will face Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight bout at the top of the UFC’s inaugural event in Saudi Arabia in late June. UFC CEO Dana White had promised to make it the “the best Fight Night we’ve ever done,” and having one of the biggest stars in the promotion fight on it has certainly contributed towards it.

Whittaker is coming off of a tough knockout loss to Dricus Du Plessis last year. The South African has, of course, won the middleweight title since then and is likely to face Israel Adesanya (with whom he has a long-running feud) this year. Chimaev, on the other hand, defeated former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in his last UFC appearance at UFC 294. While he became the official number one title contender for the 185-pound title then, he turned down a UFC 296 title bout against then-champion Sean Strickland due to injury. Du Plessis stepped in as replacement, and won the title off of ‘Tarzan’.

The stakes are high for Whittaker-Chimaev as the winner of their bout will be top contenders for the title depending on the result of their upcoming Fight Night card fixture in Saudi Arabia. However, given the landscape of the division, with Strickland and Adesanya already waiting for title rematches, the winner of the Saudi main event will have to fight at least one other contender in a possible number one contender bout. What are your predictions for Whittaker-Chimaev?