Bo Nickal is very much targeting a future UFC fight with Khamzat Chimaev.
Nickal is coming off an impressive first-round knockout victory over Val Woodburn at UFC 290 earlier this month. In the process, the wrestling standout showed that he could strike as well as grapple.
It got fans excited not only about the American's potential, but also a possible future fight with a somewhat similar albeit more experienced fighter in Chimaev.
It's certainly a fight Nickal wants, but at the same time, he also wants it to be in the right circumstances with a proper build-up.
“I think everybody wants to see me fight Khamzat,” Nickal said on The MMA Hour. “I want to fight Khamzat, but I think we need to build more. He hasn’t fought in a long time.
“I think his last fight was [Kevin] Holland. He smashed Kevin Holland up almost a year ago and I would like to see him maybe fight at [middleweight], I’ll get a couple more fights in.”
Once Nickal and Chimaev do reach a point where they have enough fights and potentially have a belt even, the former has a grand plan for their eventual fight.
“My goal with Khamzat has been Allegiant Stadium [in Las Vegas], sell it out for the belt and blow the roof off that place when I smash that guy,” Nickal explained. “It’s going to take a little more to build my reputation and get to where I want to be and for him to get to where he needs to be to make that fight what it deserves. To give it the atmosphere it deserves.”
“… If it’s for the belt, that could be the biggest fight but as of now, neither of us are the champ or even fighting for the belt. So I think that’s a fight that should be for the title. Not the interim title, the ‘BMF’ or anything like that. The actual 185 [pound] UFC belt, undisputed.”
For now, it'll be some time before we see that, especially with UFC president Dana White claiming he's in no rush to book Nickal against a top-15 opponent.
But that said, Chimaev is not the be-all, end-all for Nickal.
“To me, that’s a fight that I’ve got on my mind but I don’t really see any specific fight as this is the biggest fight of my career,” Nickal added. “I’m going to be myself and perform the same regardless of who I compete against.
“That’s definitely a fight I think about, but there will probably be bigger fights down the line.”
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