UFC 309 brings us an intriguing clash as rising star Bo Nickal faces the seasoned submission specialist Paul Craig. Nickal, a former NCAA wrestling champion with a rapidly developing skill set in MMA, has been storming through his opponents. But his next opponent claims to has studied him well, and will prove to be a tough match-up.

Known for his grappling expertise and thrilling submissions, Paul Craig aims to halt Nickal’s ascent by reminding fans of his own talents in the octagon. The veteran fighter is aware of the threats possessed by the undefeated fighter but seems unfazed and ready to take him on with a concrete game plan.

Paul Craig knows exactly what he needs to do when he takes on Bo Nickal next

There are very few fighters in the UFC who have had an impact like Bo Nickal. The 28-year-old burst onto the scene after winning the Dana White’s Contender Series with two emphatic submission victories. He carried that momentum into the UFC with a 3-0 record and all finishes within two rounds. Nickal’s game revolves around pressure and heavy wrestling as he tires out his opponent before finishing the fight. A savvy grappler and competent striker, Nickal has had four submission and two KO victories in six professional fights. Paul Craig is pretty aware of Nickal’s accolades and aura, and is ready with his own game plan.

According to Craig, he spent a lot of time analyzing his opponent’s game and shared his gameplan for the NCAA Division-1 wrestler in an interview with the ‘Leather’d’ podcast. “So with someone like Bo Nickal you’re not going to learn to wrestle like him within a fight camp. So it’s wise to say that yep I’m going to be working on these wrestling defenses. But what I should be working on is good footwork, good striking and good grappling, and that’s key to victory. We’re not gonna out-wrestle him, we’re going to out-MMA him.”, Paul Craig stated.

Craig is up against an opponent who has surging momentum at the moment. While Nickal’s rise to the UFC has been nothing short of extraordinary, there was a time where the UFC CEO Dana White didn’t make the American fighter’s road to the UFC easy.

Bo Nickal had to prove Dana White to get a contract with the promotion

The 28-year-old Bo Nickal was a star in the making and he had to prove it in his first fight outside the UFC. The NCAA Division-1 wrestler got called out by a fighter from Florida to an MMA fight and the wrestling champ responding with a ‘yes’. Being the prodigy that he was, Nickal managed to knock out his opponent just 30 seconds into the fight and immediately became an online sensation. When the UFC came knocking on his door as a result of this, the fighter responded with a resounding ‘yes’. Nickal featured the Dana White’s Contender Series and instantly became a hit, though he had to prove himself twice.

The young prospect won his very first fight with ease (in 1:02 of round 1), but UFC CEO Dana White wanted to see a bit more of him. During one of his interviews, Nickal remembered how he was asked to prove himself following his first DWCS win, to which he replied, “So, my first fight on Contender Series, I took the guy down, choked him out in about a minute, and Dana was basically like, ‘You know, he’s only 2-0; I want to see some more.’ I was a little mad about it initially because I was like, ‘Ah, dang, I finished this guy in a minute. Like, what could I have done more?’”

In his next DWCS showing, Nickal picked up a triangle choke over Donovan Beard just 52 seconds into their bout. This victory sealed the fate of Bo Nickal who found himself fighting on the main card of UFC 285 the very next year.

Bo Nickal has since put up impressive performances in the Octagon with three finishes within two rounds of each bout. Can he keep his winning momentum going at UFC 309? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.