Bo Nickal requested to battle Reinier de Ridder.
When the Final Combating Championship returns to Iowa for the primary time in 25 years, they’ll convey with it a powerful line-up of fights, together with a giant bantamweight headliner between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo.
However maybe essentially the most intriguing battle of the night time will see Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I nationwide champion, put his undefeated streak on the road in opposition to former two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder.
It’s a major step up in competitors for Nickal, however because it seems, the previous Nittany Lion is the one who requested for a battle with ‘The Dutch Knight.’
“This is a matchup that I asked for, and I feel like it’s a matchup that’s exciting for a lot of reasons,” Nickal informed Ariel Helwani. “He’s had a lot of success in other organizations and success in the UFC, and it’s a natural step up for me. I want to keep fighting better and better guys, and this is a guy with a proven track record and many, many finishes.”
“It’s an interesting matchup. It’s a similar matchup to the Paul Craig fight, where he’s got more of a jiu-jitsu style,” Nickal added. “I think, obviously, with him being on a win streak and having a different type of style on the feet, it will prove to be an interesting fight. I’m pumped up.”
Bo Nickal is struggling to seek out appropriate opponents
By 4 appearances with the promotion, Nickal is an ideal 4-0 with three of his wins coming inside the gap. Nonetheless, his victory over Paul Craig at UFC 309 left loads to be desired. A lot in order that even Dana White advised that the extremely touted prospect wanted some work.
Nonetheless, the objective is to maintain transferring ahead and testing himself with every new battle. Sadly, discovering fights that make sense for Nickal at this level in his profession has confirmed to be a tricky job.
“There are some people who want to fight me, and there are a lot who don’t,” Nickal continued. “It seems like the people who want to fight me—it’s all upside for them, and they want to gain some clout off my name,” Nickal mentioned. “As I transfer up the rankings, the individuals who don’t wish to battle me have loads to lose.
“It’s an interesting position, and in reality, there are only about half a dozen people I can fight because of what makes sense for my career.”