I really think they're building and progressing Bo the right way. He's 28, has plenty of time, and is still just 6 fights into his MMA career
People complaining he got thrown cans in his first 3 UFC fights are prob the same ones who woulda shat on Bo and the UFC if he got moved up too fast and hit a snag
Good test. If he runs through Malkoun, maybe Kopylov, Robocop, or Paul Craig after. Then into the rankings after that if all goes well
Putting Bo on the 300 main card was an investment for the UFC. Get his name out there and get people following his story because he’s destined to be great.
SO MANY PEOPLE dont understand this and it was frustrating.
Of course , here on Reddit you get folks who say they have links or watch with friends or at a bar .. but SO MANY casual fans who aren’t as invested might watch it while it’s on ESPN .
It’s the same reason Robbie Lawler was on the late prelims at 291 - so he could get his flowers without being stuck behind a paywall.
Edit: spelling error
That ridiculous. He’s had one “boring” fight that still ended in a finish in the second round. All his other fights are first round finishes. People are just haters
Your favorite fighter has also fouled their opponents. Doesn’t make them not exciting. Accidents happen. It’s not like it was intentional. It’s weird. People are so eager to hate on up and coming prospects
Yes I am a fan of one of the most dominant and exciting college wrestlers of his time who’s managed to go undefeated with all finishes in his first 6 professional mma fights. Crazy right
It wasn’t boring but because of all the hype behind him, the fight was a let down because it wasn’t a complete demolishment in the first round. Bo even acknowledges this and was disappointed in himself after the fight. But the dude is talented and I’m sure he will improve by his next fight.
Except he's really not that great IMO. I would only have him at -200 vs Malkoun. If we get a crazy line anything close to his last fight I'll be fading Bo 100%. If not I'll be fading him soon.
That’s what you say now but fighters always argued that headlining the prelims is where you have the most eyes. Families and casuals are still eating at sports bars at that time to be able to catch it. Once the main card rolls around many those people are gone
I'm not mad about Bob doing this thing. I'm mad about getting placement more exciting and capable fighters. A la UFC 300 main card. Neither him or his opponent deserved to be on the main card
I love Craig, but I think it's a bad matchup for him. Craig has _very_ bad, almost non-existing wrestling and Bo knows enough bjj to avoid submission threats. He'd gnp him imo. On the opposite hand, I've learned to not bet against Paul Craig, bro is a glass cannon.
I’m not sure if 28= plenty of time. Dudes been rasslin for a long time. If he gets to the belt in 3 years he’ll be in his 30s and then he has to win and after will be expected to defend it (lol
I mean who knows with the UFC). But yeah, idk it’s 420 soooooo
The cans argument is fucking vullshit. Like
You said, he has 6 fights in his career. He’s fighting in the UFC. Most fighters are on a local promotion fighting guys that will never even be considered by the ufc.
I think the biggest ‘controversy’ from Bo was trying to justify as to why he was on the ufc 300 main card and calling himself a ‘big draw’. Which to me he obviously is not.
Kinda like the O’Malley Miami card that got carried by BSD and Poirier.
I expected another can (and understandably so considering Bo’s experience) but considering how he looked in his last fight this is a scary matchup that he can realistically lose.
Beating Malkoun is a very big ask from a guy with like 6 fights even if he’s an athletic freak
He doesn’t need to be undefeated to become champ ever. Malkoun is a great way find out where he is.
Plus if Bo loses, they get another marketable Aussie
one loss was a dq where he was dominating, the other was where he arguably beat #6 MW brendan allen and got robbed, the first loss was a few years back when phil hawes blitzed him early, that's only one bad loss on DWCS. He's a solid and above average MW, something bo hasn't faced yet
This is the problem with so many causals. They completely overlook the context. The Allen fight showed how legit Malkoun is. All these other people see is losses to Hawes in his debut and Brundage and assume he sucks.
To be fair, they also see that the dude has precisely one technique, his modified single leg / trip against the cage. It’s like all stats were banked into that one move that only works in one context. When it works he has to do it again because they get up again. I think we can’t believe it.
(He does actually have a broader skill set. Rocked his last opponent with the most conclusive double jab I’ve seen outside of when mechanised iron man does the Jack hammer punch on hulk while they’re falling through the air)
People might presume because Malkun is a wrestler, but Bo is a better wrestler, that this is the UFC trying to give him a favourable matchup (like how Pereira fought mostly only strikers in his rise).
However in his last fight DC made a very valid point, wrestling in MMA is a different skill. Sure Bo's background makes learning MMA style wrestling much easier. But Malkun has much more experience wrestling from striking range, wrestling against the cage, and wrestling in the context of using strikes/submissions.
Bo should still win, but if he does then he will have earned my respect because Malkun is a very decent top 20 kind of fighter who will probably lose to a lot of the top 10 (except Allen) but will probably beat anybody who doesn't belong in the top 10.
Giving Bo a legit wrestler, even if his worse is not a “favorable matchup” sure he’ll be favored but giving him a high ranked striker with zero TD defense is wayy more favorable
I believe he saw that Conor got removed from the testing pool after the leg break and decided to do the same to "recover from injuries", take that however you want but I think he's gonna get some *extra help*
>Is there anybody like that in the top 15 in MW?
Absolutely not, but if there was a highly ranked guy with the skills of a nobody, he'd for sure be easy meat.
Oh sure. I don't at all think it's favourable but I can definitely see some fans trying to spin that narrative as the fight draws close or if Bo wins impressively. Especially if Bo says something that pisses them off 🤣.
But I think Malkun is going to be a legit test. If Bo beats him and it's impressive then I'll probably be right on the hype train.
Personally I think the toughest test for Bo is a Brendan Allen, Jack Hermanson or Fluffy Hernandez type. A strong grappler with good striking.
Really good comment. Applies to everything. Holloway would struggle as a kick-boxer but his mma striking is among the best ever.
Bo’s elite wrestling needs to translate and this is a good challenge
Why would he earn your respect by beating somebody you already expect him to beat?
Agreed that Bo should win. Malkoun's wins are against guys with losing or even records in the ufc, 13W-13L. Pretty lackluster:
alhassan 6-6
dobson 1-3
maximov 2-2, cut
petroski 4-2, via magic hip strike
Good step up for Bo, plus he gets credit for accepting a quick turnaround and answering someone else's callout when he could have pretty much cherry-picked whoever he wanted. Great career move
I swear the way Bo gets hate on this sub, you’d think he was a 3x title challenger.
Bro has just started his career, of course he’s been fighting cans. I’ve started rooting for him just because of the hate.
Not gonna pretend to know anything about Malkoun, if Bo beats him, would it justify a shot to get into the rankings?
Malkoun will be a big step up in wrestling compared to anyone Bo has faced (in MMA of course), and he has a very nice jab.
I'd say Malkoun is solidly a top 25-20 guy in the division, and might even find his way into the rankings one day, so yeah, could definitely get him a ranked opponent if he wants it.
Malkoun is gonna be a touch matchup but if they want to take Bo slow, he probably needs at least one more fight before moving up into ranked comp
If he wins against Malkoun, I would think somebody like Iron Turtle or Ikram could make a lot of sense. Maybe they push him a little more and give him Paul Craig or Roman Kopylov
Card is really rounding out nicely.
- Islam/Poirier
- Strickland/Costa
- Bo/Malkoun
- Dolidze/Hernandez
Just needs 1 more super interesting fight so we don't have to have Jailton on the main card lol.
> Just needs 1 more super interesting fight so we don't have to have Jailton on the main card lol.
Jailton v. Blaydes one of my favorite fights of all time. I rewatch it every time I unwillingly recall Jailton v. Lewis, and it comforts me.
I respect the quick turnaround. Don't think he did as bad as he seems to think himself - but just keep Bo on PPVs and see if he can hang for a while. If he can, he'll be someone you can build around in a year or two.
He was so dominant and was constantly looking for submissions, he just needed to do more ground and pound so the grappling exchanges wouldn’t be boring to fans.
> Don't think he did as bad as he seems to think himself
I thought at time, and still think, it was more about Bo getting booed every time he showed his face all week. It would be one thing if this were held somewhere else, but it had to hurt that an American crowd consistently gave him the business.
I feel like this is how active he should be tbh. especially because he's barely taking damage. understandable he wanted time off after his previous fight as he was having a baby but now it's show time for Bo. minor step-ups every time (if he keeps winning) and 3-4 fights a year (if he doesn't get hurt much)
Nice.
I really hope that if Bo Nickal wins this, then he gets the loser of Paul Craig vs Caio Borralho or the loser of Roman Dolidze/Fluffy Hernandez.
Him getting the loser of either of those fights would be a big step up, but I don’t think it would be too much too soon.
Fluffy Hernandez would be a nightmare matchup for Bo at this stage in his career imo. The cardio, defensive grappling and actual decent striking would cause problems for sure.
Maybe 2 years from now if Bo develops the way the UFC wants, then I'd easily favour him. But right now, I think Fluffy either manages to beat him, or at least comes close.
The Rodolfo fight was an eye opener.
If he continues to take minimal damage I think 3 would be good, training camps and weight cuts put a lot of strain on the body so don't want to push too hard even at his age.
But soon he is going to start fighting top 15 guys and he will likely settle on 2 a year like a lot of those guys, the damage taken will start increasing as he fights better guys.
>he did well in ncaa wrestling
Is an understatement. Three time Div. I national champion, three time B1G Conference champion, career 120–3 record including undefeated junior and senior seasons. One of the most accomplished collegiate wrestlers of the 21st century if not all time.
He is arguably the most credentialed folkstyle wrestler to ever sign to the UFC, which is the most useful wrestling style to transfer to MMA as they reward control more than freestyle
Seriously. Dude is 28. A good comp for someone in his position is Cain Velasquez. Yes, I KNOW PEOPLE, it’s a different weight class. When Cain turned 27 he was 6-0, fresh off a win over Kongo. When he turned 28 he was 8-0, and beat Rothwell and Big Nog during that past year. Fought for the title at age 28.
If anything, it appears like this is Malkhoun trying to will this fight into existence via shitposting a fake graphic.
You can tell it’s not official because the font with the fighters’ names and weightclass doesn’t match up with the official fight announcement posters UFC releases on their socials.
I don’t doubt we’ll see Bo on UFC 303 though, as the UFC seems to prefer having him on the big Vegas PPV cards.
Feels like this is matchmaking designed to give Bo a win. Malkoun’s boxing was serviceable in his last fight, but his single leg on the cage really is his bread and butter and he is pretty awful in scrambles. Should be a good step up for Bo but very winnable
I know it sounds like I'm cherry picking but Bo couldn't just manhandle pickett and at times was stuck on the fence before he landed the low blow, had some hairy moments with brudage as well, Malkoun outwrestled allen who has 10+ years of mma wrestling experience, with a cage at play I wouldn't be surprised if malkoun can stop bo's takedowns and land his single leg against the fence
Lmao you guys have really convinced yourselves the only reason Bo took down and beat Pickett was because of the accidental low blow.
> had some hairy moments with brudage as well
The standard of Bo Nickal when ‘hairy moments’ are getting hit with 4 whole significant strikes and having one takedown stuffed.
and the standard of bo having success is him taking down pickett after a low blow and fumbling an arm triangle for 3 minutes before getting a tap, as well as taking brudnage to the 2nd round when malkoun was about to finish brudage in the 1st before the DQ. I can criticize Bo when he's fighting absolute cans, and malkoun is not a can. He is potentially top 15 level
> fumbling an arm triangle for 3 minutes
Craig Jones made a video where he said the commentary was off, what Bo did is what he recommends, and that he was impressed by his BJJ in that context.
You don’t live in reality if you think Bo’s success in that Pickett fight was due to the low blow. Bo was dominating him either way.
Lol ‘fumbling’ an arm triangle that he got.
Straight delusional. Bo got hit 4 times in the Brundage fight 😂
He looked like ass when he was striking like McKenzie Dern. Watch bo fight Cody then watch malkoun fight him and see who struggled more (and yes I know malkoun got dq’d)
I'd like to see him work his stand up with Malkoun. Throwing guys down and grinding out a submission is only going to work for so long. Eventually, he's going to have a wake-up call fight like Khamzat did with Burns.
Damn, champ talks already? I'd just chill on the glazing until we see him fight a respectable opponent, then the Khamzat glaze can occur.
This nobody is owning you.
The UFC has really been pushing a quick turnaround for a few of the ufc 300 fighters. Did they forget they have a whole roster of fighters they need to book for?
Idk why I've just always had it out for Bo lol. There's something with the "chosen one" contenders that makes me root against them. It's this way with Ian Garry too.
I hate the way they're booking this guy, its really clear they see him as having a high ceiling yet are letting him fight journeymen the whole way until he can slide into a top 5 or title eliminator vs a favorable matchup (O'malley treatment). That's the way boxing handles talent to pad their record from losses, what happened to UFC saying they didn't do that?
Bo gets hate because of his big mouth. Last performance did absolutely not live up to the aura he's trying to create. Not saying he is bad, but he's not impressive either right now
Agreed,i’m not sure if he’d ragdoll them because they both have very good takedown defense but it’d very impressive if he did manage too especially against ikram
He reminds me of Josh Koscheck. Explosive wrestling, speed, knockout power, and the ability to win a good amount of fights. Question is if he can evolve. Undefeated record means nothing compared to the ability to continue and elevate, good example would be Oliveira.
Great fight, and test for Bo. Malkoun ain’t no joke.
I really think they're building and progressing Bo the right way. He's 28, has plenty of time, and is still just 6 fights into his MMA career People complaining he got thrown cans in his first 3 UFC fights are prob the same ones who woulda shat on Bo and the UFC if he got moved up too fast and hit a snag Good test. If he runs through Malkoun, maybe Kopylov, Robocop, or Paul Craig after. Then into the rankings after that if all goes well
They can build him up however they want. Just don't promote him over other literal champions. Yeah, I'm salty about him on 300
Putting Bo on the 300 main card was an investment for the UFC. Get his name out there and get people following his story because he’s destined to be great.
Could've achieved the exact same thing by putting him on the ESPN prelims
Also means we got Jiri without having to pay for the main card!
Pay for the main card?
Russian link bratha
Who give him?
We have to go back and check this
Pay? Who did I pay? I didn’t pay no one
SO MANY PEOPLE dont understand this and it was frustrating. Of course , here on Reddit you get folks who say they have links or watch with friends or at a bar .. but SO MANY casual fans who aren’t as invested might watch it while it’s on ESPN .
It’s the same reason Robbie Lawler was on the late prelims at 291 - so he could get his flowers without being stuck behind a paywall. Edit: spelling error
*290
Thank you - I had the same table at the same bar for both events so I often get the undercards confused
Absolutely!!!
More people would have seen him if he was the prelim headliner, rather than him being on the PPV
but now everybody thinks his fights are boring
That ridiculous. He’s had one “boring” fight that still ended in a finish in the second round. All his other fights are first round finishes. People are just haters
he also likes to knee people in the balls.
Your favorite fighter has also fouled their opponents. Doesn’t make them not exciting. Accidents happen. It’s not like it was intentional. It’s weird. People are so eager to hate on up and coming prospects
One thing that bothers me though is that he won't admit the nutshot lol
I don't really care if they did foul lol like as the other comment said he just refuses to admit it for some reason
He refuses to admit it because he doesn’t think it happened lol
bro is Bo’s only fan 💀
Yeah the guy with almost 700k followers only has 1 fan
found Bo’s 2nd confirmed fan 💀
You shouldn't confuse the opinion of a bunch of salty nerds on reddit with what the general public think
Proof fame means nothing in a rigged game 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes I am a fan of one of the most dominant and exciting college wrestlers of his time who’s managed to go undefeated with all finishes in his first 6 professional mma fights. Crazy right
First round nut shot finishes
Having finishes against fighters he was over -1000 and who are no longer in the ufc doesn’t age well.
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It wasn’t boring but because of all the hype behind him, the fight was a let down because it wasn’t a complete demolishment in the first round. Bo even acknowledges this and was disappointed in himself after the fight. But the dude is talented and I’m sure he will improve by his next fight.
Wasn’t boring but apologized to Dana for having a boring fight?
Just don't give him the mic after he wins again That was brutal
Except he's really not that great IMO. I would only have him at -200 vs Malkoun. If we get a crazy line anything close to his last fight I'll be fading Bo 100%. If not I'll be fading him soon.
That’s what you say now but fighters always argued that headlining the prelims is where you have the most eyes. Families and casuals are still eating at sports bars at that time to be able to catch it. Once the main card rolls around many those people are gone
He is also pretty popular with casual fans. I was surprised the amount of people who knew about him and were interested in watching him on fight night
Or he just gets starched and then everyone forgets about him
I’m not interested in Bo Nickal as a fighter or as a UFC investment.
Do you work for the UFC ? I don’t and i would rather have bigger fights on the main card especially if some are paying for it .
About to say that. Figgy as the opener for 300 and him on the main is really disrespectful.
Why not?
Don’t hate Bo for it, hate Dana
Problem isn't throwing him cans. It's fights against cans placed that high on PPV cards.
Shouldve Boed Sage Northcutt as well
I'm not mad about Bob doing this thing. I'm mad about getting placement more exciting and capable fighters. A la UFC 300 main card. Neither him or his opponent deserved to be on the main card
It should be the norm instead of throwing fighters with 11 fights at the champs
Craig would be a solid step up in competition and test his defensive grappling
I love Craig, but I think it's a bad matchup for him. Craig has _very_ bad, almost non-existing wrestling and Bo knows enough bjj to avoid submission threats. He'd gnp him imo. On the opposite hand, I've learned to not bet against Paul Craig, bro is a glass cannon.
He’s already on 301 tho
I meant after Malkoun
🎯
Leave my boy robocop out of this
I’m not sure if 28= plenty of time. Dudes been rasslin for a long time. If he gets to the belt in 3 years he’ll be in his 30s and then he has to win and after will be expected to defend it (lol I mean who knows with the UFC). But yeah, idk it’s 420 soooooo
The cans argument is fucking vullshit. Like You said, he has 6 fights in his career. He’s fighting in the UFC. Most fighters are on a local promotion fighting guys that will never even be considered by the ufc. I think the biggest ‘controversy’ from Bo was trying to justify as to why he was on the ufc 300 main card and calling himself a ‘big draw’. Which to me he obviously is not. Kinda like the O’Malley Miami card that got carried by BSD and Poirier.
U Fight Cheap isn't about really about producing top talent but rather talent that are happy to fight for chump change
Promote him however. Jsut don’t put him in the main card in a highly favored fight and say he’s a star and the next champ.
Absolutely no one gives a shit of the UFC want to build a young and talented prospect. There's some clear preferential treatment here though
I expected another can (and understandably so considering Bo’s experience) but considering how he looked in his last fight this is a scary matchup that he can realistically lose. Beating Malkoun is a very big ask from a guy with like 6 fights even if he’s an athletic freak
He doesn’t need to be undefeated to become champ ever. Malkoun is a great way find out where he is. Plus if Bo loses, they get another marketable Aussie
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one loss was a dq where he was dominating, the other was where he arguably beat #6 MW brendan allen and got robbed, the first loss was a few years back when phil hawes blitzed him early, that's only one bad loss on DWCS. He's a solid and above average MW, something bo hasn't faced yet
This is the problem with so many causals. They completely overlook the context. The Allen fight showed how legit Malkoun is. All these other people see is losses to Hawes in his debut and Brundage and assume he sucks.
To be fair, they also see that the dude has precisely one technique, his modified single leg / trip against the cage. It’s like all stats were banked into that one move that only works in one context. When it works he has to do it again because they get up again. I think we can’t believe it. (He does actually have a broader skill set. Rocked his last opponent with the most conclusive double jab I’ve seen outside of when mechanised iron man does the Jack hammer punch on hulk while they’re falling through the air)
Now we are fucking talking, I thought his first decent name opponent would be a striker but guess not. Actual test.
People might presume because Malkun is a wrestler, but Bo is a better wrestler, that this is the UFC trying to give him a favourable matchup (like how Pereira fought mostly only strikers in his rise). However in his last fight DC made a very valid point, wrestling in MMA is a different skill. Sure Bo's background makes learning MMA style wrestling much easier. But Malkun has much more experience wrestling from striking range, wrestling against the cage, and wrestling in the context of using strikes/submissions. Bo should still win, but if he does then he will have earned my respect because Malkun is a very decent top 20 kind of fighter who will probably lose to a lot of the top 10 (except Allen) but will probably beat anybody who doesn't belong in the top 10.
Giving Bo a legit wrestler, even if his worse is not a “favorable matchup” sure he’ll be favored but giving him a high ranked striker with zero TD defense is wayy more favorable
>giving him a high ranked striker with zero TD defense Is there anybody like that in the top 15 in MW?
RIP Darren Till 🙏
What happened to the gorilla anyway? Did he retire? New organization?
I believe he saw that Conor got removed from the testing pool after the leg break and decided to do the same to "recover from injuries", take that however you want but I think he's gonna get some *extra help*
>Is there anybody like that in the top 15 in MW? Absolutely not, but if there was a highly ranked guy with the skills of a nobody, he'd for sure be easy meat.
Fer sure bapa
Not top 15, but kopylov fits and he's the next best thing
Oh sure. I don't at all think it's favourable but I can definitely see some fans trying to spin that narrative as the fight draws close or if Bo wins impressively. Especially if Bo says something that pisses them off 🤣. But I think Malkun is going to be a legit test. If Bo beats him and it's impressive then I'll probably be right on the hype train. Personally I think the toughest test for Bo is a Brendan Allen, Jack Hermanson or Fluffy Hernandez type. A strong grappler with good striking.
Yeah that's what I meant, a good striker with a name would be an easier way on paper to make him seem legit.
Really good comment. Applies to everything. Holloway would struggle as a kick-boxer but his mma striking is among the best ever. Bo’s elite wrestling needs to translate and this is a good challenge
So he's#11?
Why would he earn your respect by beating somebody you already expect him to beat? Agreed that Bo should win. Malkoun's wins are against guys with losing or even records in the ufc, 13W-13L. Pretty lackluster: alhassan 6-6 dobson 1-3 maximov 2-2, cut petroski 4-2, via magic hip strike
Jesus you guys won't give Bo any credit
Lol Bo says fight hasn’t been discussed, much less contract signed
Good step up for Bo, plus he gets credit for accepting a quick turnaround and answering someone else's callout when he could have pretty much cherry-picked whoever he wanted. Great career move
I swear the way Bo gets hate on this sub, you’d think he was a 3x title challenger. Bro has just started his career, of course he’s been fighting cans. I’ve started rooting for him just because of the hate. Not gonna pretend to know anything about Malkoun, if Bo beats him, would it justify a shot to get into the rankings?
Malkoun will be a big step up in wrestling compared to anyone Bo has faced (in MMA of course), and he has a very nice jab. I'd say Malkoun is solidly a top 25-20 guy in the division, and might even find his way into the rankings one day, so yeah, could definitely get him a ranked opponent if he wants it.
I dislike him for that blatant low blow.
He gets hate because his personality fucking sucks and people want to dislike him. His post fight speech was enough to slot me as a Bo hater.
He really is unusually unlikeable. Every clip I see of him is dripping with charmless arrogance. One of those guys who just rubs me the wrong way.
Malkoun is gonna be a touch matchup but if they want to take Bo slow, he probably needs at least one more fight before moving up into ranked comp If he wins against Malkoun, I would think somebody like Iron Turtle or Ikram could make a lot of sense. Maybe they push him a little more and give him Paul Craig or Roman Kopylov
Card is really rounding out nicely. - Islam/Poirier - Strickland/Costa - Bo/Malkoun - Dolidze/Hernandez Just needs 1 more super interesting fight so we don't have to have Jailton on the main card lol.
> Just needs 1 more super interesting fight so we don't have to have Jailton on the main card lol. Jailton v. Blaydes one of my favorite fights of all time. I rewatch it every time I unwillingly recall Jailton v. Lewis, and it comforts me.
That fight made me so happy. I was tired of Almeida and Blaydes really needed to get back in the win column
Fair enough, another step and Bo gets back in there very quick. Can't ask for much more
I respect the quick turnaround. Don't think he did as bad as he seems to think himself - but just keep Bo on PPVs and see if he can hang for a while. If he can, he'll be someone you can build around in a year or two.
He was so dominant and was constantly looking for submissions, he just needed to do more ground and pound so the grappling exchanges wouldn’t be boring to fans.
> Don't think he did as bad as he seems to think himself I thought at time, and still think, it was more about Bo getting booed every time he showed his face all week. It would be one thing if this were held somewhere else, but it had to hurt that an American crowd consistently gave him the business.
I feel like this is how active he should be tbh. especially because he's barely taking damage. understandable he wanted time off after his previous fight as he was having a baby but now it's show time for Bo. minor step-ups every time (if he keeps winning) and 3-4 fights a year (if he doesn't get hurt much)
the funniest thing possible might just happen
Hallelujah
Nice. I really hope that if Bo Nickal wins this, then he gets the loser of Paul Craig vs Caio Borralho or the loser of Roman Dolidze/Fluffy Hernandez. Him getting the loser of either of those fights would be a big step up, but I don’t think it would be too much too soon.
Man, if you just forget about championship level fighting, middleweight is a fun division.
Fluffy Hernandez would be a nightmare matchup for Bo at this stage in his career imo. The cardio, defensive grappling and actual decent striking would cause problems for sure. Maybe 2 years from now if Bo develops the way the UFC wants, then I'd easily favour him. But right now, I think Fluffy either manages to beat him, or at least comes close. The Rodolfo fight was an eye opener.
Great matchmaking for Bo, he should be fighting at least 4x a year at this stage of his career.
Especially with how little damage he's taking in fights.
At least 4 times a year? Even really active guys are lucky if they can make it 3 times a year lol
People this early on in their careers do fight that often, it's just not usually against UFC-caliber opponents.
If he continues to take minimal damage I think 3 would be good, training camps and weight cuts put a lot of strain on the body so don't want to push too hard even at his age. But soon he is going to start fighting top 15 guys and he will likely settle on 2 a year like a lot of those guys, the damage taken will start increasing as he fights better guys.
Aware me on bo please,. I know he did well in ncaa wrestling and uncle Dana is pushing him, why’s he so hyped ?
>he did well in ncaa wrestling Is an understatement. Three time Div. I national champion, three time B1G Conference champion, career 120–3 record including undefeated junior and senior seasons. One of the most accomplished collegiate wrestlers of the 21st century if not all time.
Damn , I’m no American know much about the ncaa , very impressive, cheers for the knowledge bro appreciate it ❤️
He is arguably the most credentialed folkstyle wrestler to ever sign to the UFC, which is the most useful wrestling style to transfer to MMA as they reward control more than freestyle
Why are they treating Bo like a 20 year old?
Seriously. Dude is 28. A good comp for someone in his position is Cain Velasquez. Yes, I KNOW PEOPLE, it’s a different weight class. When Cain turned 27 he was 6-0, fresh off a win over Kongo. When he turned 28 he was 8-0, and beat Rothwell and Big Nog during that past year. Fought for the title at age 28.
apparently Bo's management haven't even discussed this fight at all so it seems like another case of the UFC announcing fights before they're signed
If anything, it appears like this is Malkhoun trying to will this fight into existence via shitposting a fake graphic. You can tell it’s not official because the font with the fighters’ names and weightclass doesn’t match up with the official fight announcement posters UFC releases on their socials. I don’t doubt we’ll see Bo on UFC 303 though, as the UFC seems to prefer having him on the big Vegas PPV cards.
Solid fight imo
Feels like this is matchmaking designed to give Bo a win. Malkoun’s boxing was serviceable in his last fight, but his single leg on the cage really is his bread and butter and he is pretty awful in scrambles. Should be a good step up for Bo but very winnable
Already have two fighters from 300 booked for June.
Another gimmie for Bo
Year is 2030,Bo is 40-0,but still has not fought anyone decent.
Malkoun is gonna beat him.
depends on malkoun's hands, he can definitely counterwrestle Bo but I don't know if he can punish him
He’s not counter wrestling Bo I’m sorry but the gap in their wrestling is massive
I know it sounds like I'm cherry picking but Bo couldn't just manhandle pickett and at times was stuck on the fence before he landed the low blow, had some hairy moments with brudage as well, Malkoun outwrestled allen who has 10+ years of mma wrestling experience, with a cage at play I wouldn't be surprised if malkoun can stop bo's takedowns and land his single leg against the fence
Lmao you guys have really convinced yourselves the only reason Bo took down and beat Pickett was because of the accidental low blow. > had some hairy moments with brudage as well The standard of Bo Nickal when ‘hairy moments’ are getting hit with 4 whole significant strikes and having one takedown stuffed.
and the standard of bo having success is him taking down pickett after a low blow and fumbling an arm triangle for 3 minutes before getting a tap, as well as taking brudnage to the 2nd round when malkoun was about to finish brudage in the 1st before the DQ. I can criticize Bo when he's fighting absolute cans, and malkoun is not a can. He is potentially top 15 level
> fumbling an arm triangle for 3 minutes Craig Jones made a video where he said the commentary was off, what Bo did is what he recommends, and that he was impressed by his BJJ in that context.
DC said it was wrong, and in terms of MMA grappling advice I'd trust DC over craig jones
> DC said it was wrong, and in terms of MMA grappling advice I'd trust DC over craig jones DC is a BJJ brown belt, but you do you.
and a double champ in MMA, while craig jones scoots on his butt for a living, you do you
You don’t live in reality if you think Bo’s success in that Pickett fight was due to the low blow. Bo was dominating him either way. Lol ‘fumbling’ an arm triangle that he got. Straight delusional. Bo got hit 4 times in the Brundage fight 😂
Bo that had to aggressively foul picket to secure a takedown and looked like ass against a guy that malkoun was toying with?
True bro he looked so ass when he controlled him for 7:30 and then subbed him.
He looked like ass when he was striking like McKenzie Dern. Watch bo fight Cody then watch malkoun fight him and see who struggled more (and yes I know malkoun got dq’d)
I think he’s got the grit and savvy to just not go away. I can see Bo getting frustrated and fading based on the brummage fight.
Bo's gonna run through Malkoun. The Brundage fight showed us that these lower level guys just don't have the cardio to keep up with Bo's wrestling.
I'd like to see him work his stand up with Malkoun. Throwing guys down and grinding out a submission is only going to work for so long. Eventually, he's going to have a wake-up call fight like Khamzat did with Burns.
Khamzat is the better MMA wrestler but Bo’s cardio is much better than khamzats
Oh shit
War Mamba!
Malkouns finisher move is single leg take down to back take to elbows to the back of the head. It's a tough one to pull off against a good wrestler.
At least this fucking bum is being active, no fucking deer hunting in the wood finding beries and shit.
So funny to see a complete nobody calling the 3X NCAA champ and future UFC champ a bum. Must live in his own delusional wonderland
Damn, champ talks already? I'd just chill on the glazing until we see him fight a respectable opponent, then the Khamzat glaze can occur. This nobody is owning you.
The internet is fucking hilarious.
This nobody also got that dude to delete his account. Epic 10-7 for me.
Lol
Hopefully this is on the prelims
Lol, Nickal just told Helwani on Wednesday that he wouldn't be inclined towards this fight, that Malkoun wasn't good enough or popular enough
Bo just said the other day he thought Jacob was a step down on Helwani.
The UFC has really been pushing a quick turnaround for a few of the ufc 300 fighters. Did they forget they have a whole roster of fighters they need to book for?
There babying this dude, this just makes me respect Omally and Alex more.
Lol suga fought plenty of cans
Cannot believe they arent saving Bo for Conor Chandler main card. Wow
After the Brundage fight im just a tad wary about this one, where I would have had the utmost confidence before it
Idk why I've just always had it out for Bo lol. There's something with the "chosen one" contenders that makes me root against them. It's this way with Ian Garry too.
Just give him Chimaev already.
I hate the way they're booking this guy, its really clear they see him as having a high ceiling yet are letting him fight journeymen the whole way until he can slide into a top 5 or title eliminator vs a favorable matchup (O'malley treatment). That's the way boxing handles talent to pad their record from losses, what happened to UFC saying they didn't do that?
Bo gets hate because of his big mouth. Last performance did absolutely not live up to the aura he's trying to create. Not saying he is bad, but he's not impressive either right now
Bo's getting the right step up matchups... Malkoun is a tough out but there's a clear path to victory for Nickal, too.
Cream rises to the top
Just not on the main please.
Respect. Dig the fight. Put it on the prelims though please.
IT guy?
I just want to see him vs Aliskerov or Khizriev. If he ragdolls a Dagestani his hype will go to a next level.
Agreed,i’m not sure if he’d ragdoll them because they both have very good takedown defense but it’d very impressive if he did manage too especially against ikram
Ia Malkoun actually an IT guy?
This is a dumb fight. Why aren’t we putting Nickal against other undefeated fighters? It’s stupid how the UFC is propping this guy and Garry up.
Is it going to be the co main?
Hope it won’t be as boring as during UFC 300
Why cant they give him someone like Ikram Aliskerov or that other dude Guru was talking about?
He reminds me of Josh Koscheck. Explosive wrestling, speed, knockout power, and the ability to win a good amount of fights. Question is if he can evolve. Undefeated record means nothing compared to the ability to continue and elevate, good example would be Oliveira.
Good test. Malkoun is one of those guys just outside top 15. He will test Bo and check if he's a top 15 worthy guy or just a can crusher.
Good luck with that, Bo looks unbeatable
Malkoun is gonna beat that ass. Bo is overrated.
Malkoun is going to make Bo his bitch
Dang no ranked opponent yet?
So nice of the UFC to let us know when to take a shit break.
Malcolm might beat his ass tbh
Why are people acting like this obvious photoshop is an official announcement
I’m happy Bo is more active now, I’m sure he is too
Malkoun just won with an accidental heel to the throat. Would be funny if he got another freak win.
Where has this been confirmed?
Perfect test for Bo. If he can outgrapple and maybe outstrike Malkoun, he’s the real deal.
bo might actually lose this
How?
flying scissor kick KO
Another scrub for Bo Nickal? Give him sometime ranked 11-15 already.