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Bo Nickal is eyeing up a comeback at UFC 322 in Madison Square Garden on November 15.
Nickal told talkSPORT.com how he's now using Khamzat Chimaev's title win as 'blueprint' for reaching UFC success:
“It gives me confidence in a lot of different ways,” he said about Chimaev's win over du Plessis.
“I saw what he was able to do in a championship title fight, and it's a great blueprint for myself to copy. He was able to impose his wrestling and grappling
to dominate for 25 straight minutes and was never endangered the whole fight. It was a very flawless, easy victory."
However, Nickal himself was brought straight back to the drawing board when he was stopped four months ago by Reinier de Ridder, now ranked no.4.
Should he win his fight in October, de Ridder could get a title shot against Chimaev, who Nickal says has identifiable weaknesses:
"I see holes in the game still. I really, really doubt he would be able to take me down. I know that my cardio would hold up. I know for a fact he's not taking
me down quickly... It would be interesting. Everybody saw what happened last fight when you put him against another striking-based guy, it's probably going
to be the same thing, right? All these guys, he takes them down, throws them down, and smashes them."
“But the grappling-based guys are a different story, and there I would be by far the best grappling-based guy he's fought if we do match up.”
Nickal concluded by asserting that Chimaev is someone he had always wanted to fight, but doesn't believe the champion has the patience to 'clear out' a
whole division and fight any up-and-comers. But he said that if he had defeated de Ridder, he would've been just one fight away from earning his first UFC
title shot, and thus believes a meeting with Chimaev is still there should he get back to winning ways.
talksport.com
Nickal told talkSPORT.com how he's now using Khamzat Chimaev's title win as 'blueprint' for reaching UFC success:
“It gives me confidence in a lot of different ways,” he said about Chimaev's win over du Plessis.
“I saw what he was able to do in a championship title fight, and it's a great blueprint for myself to copy. He was able to impose his wrestling and grappling
to dominate for 25 straight minutes and was never endangered the whole fight. It was a very flawless, easy victory."
However, Nickal himself was brought straight back to the drawing board when he was stopped four months ago by Reinier de Ridder, now ranked no.4.
Should he win his fight in October, de Ridder could get a title shot against Chimaev, who Nickal says has identifiable weaknesses:
"I see holes in the game still. I really, really doubt he would be able to take me down. I know that my cardio would hold up. I know for a fact he's not taking
me down quickly... It would be interesting. Everybody saw what happened last fight when you put him against another striking-based guy, it's probably going
to be the same thing, right? All these guys, he takes them down, throws them down, and smashes them."
“But the grappling-based guys are a different story, and there I would be by far the best grappling-based guy he's fought if we do match up.”
Nickal concluded by asserting that Chimaev is someone he had always wanted to fight, but doesn't believe the champion has the patience to 'clear out' a
whole division and fight any up-and-comers. But he said that if he had defeated de Ridder, he would've been just one fight away from earning his first UFC
title shot, and thus believes a meeting with Chimaev is still there should he get back to winning ways.
Nickal sends message to Chimaev as he outlines ‘blueprint’ to beat UFC champion
Bo Nickal believes he could exploit ‘holes’ in Khamzat Chimaev’s game if the pair ever came to blows in the UFC. Nickal, 29, suffered the first defeat of his MMA career in May and…
talksport.com
