Flashback to when Bo Nickal says he could submit Israel Adesanya

[Davidjacksonjones]

Bo Nickal: 'There's not really a chance in the world' Israel Adesanya can stop me from submitting him

Bo Nickal thinks he's a bad matchup for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Nickal (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is just three fights into his professional MMA career, but the three-time Division I national wrestling champion predicts he'll be fighting top competition in the…

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

Bo Nickal: 'There's not really a chance in the world' Israel Adesanya can stop me from submitting him
“Of course, if I’m going in there with a guy like Israel Adesanya, yeah, he’s a killer on the feet,” Nickal said in an interview with Michael Bisping. “He can knock anybody out, he has amazing striking, and that goes without saying. Anytime you go into a fight there’s a risk of being knocked out. For me, when I look at that, that’s really my only chance of losing that fight.

“There’s not really a chance in the world he’s keeping me away and picking me apart for five or four rounds. I’m gonna get a hold of him at some point, I’m gonna bring him to the ground. He’s never fought anybody with one-tenth of the wrestling that I have, with one-tenth of the jiu-jitsu that I have.”

In retrospect, after watching Bo Nickal's complete destruction of hall of famer Paul Craig, how do you see this fight playing out?

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

 

[7 others]

I mean he absolutely could

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

I mean he absolutely could

Yeah anything can happen, but I would give it a very very tiny chance. Izzy was able to survive with monsters like Jan and Romero (although Romero barely wrestled), I am sure he can pick Nickal apart

 

[Sasha]

He's talking about 4 or 5 rounds, but if he behaves like yesterday (although he supposedly wouldn't, at least I hope so), he's sleeping before the 2nd. Izzy also isn't the easiest guy to geld a hold of.
That ITW was probably a bit delusional 2 years ago, but yeah, obviously the more time passes, the more likely Bo would be to win easily.
It's still a bit weird to hear him being so confident about his wrestling/grappling skills, only to be so tentative versus Craig (with all due respect to him).

 

[StewDogg11]

I mean he got submitted by DDP and taken down by Alex Pereira. Nickal could absolutely submit him.

 

[BabyBlue_Bomber]

At least he didn’t say he would knock Adesanya out standing…

 

[LostMyBlackBelt]

He could, under the right circumstances. Not like Ronda saying she could submit Cain.

 

[markantony20]

Yeah anything can happen, but I would give it a very very tiny chance. Izzy was able to survive with monsters like Jan and Romero (although Romero barely wrestled), I am sure he can pick Nickal apart

I think personally that Izzy’s TDD has regressed a bit, on his run up to the title he had pretty good TDD but I don’t know if even then it would be enough to stop a very high level wrestler like Bo.


Bo has got pretty good JiuJitsu according to Craig jones who trains with Izzy.

It’s an interesting matchup imo.

 

[Human Bass]

Yeah anything can happen, but I would give it a very very tiny chance. Izzy was able to survive with monsters like Jan and Romero (although Romero barely wrestled), I am sure he can pick Nickal apart

Why you are mentioning Romero? He never ever went for a sub in his whole career. He is a clear cut case of someone who wrestler but never grapples

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Yeah anything can happen, but I would give it a very very tiny chance. Izzy was able to survive with monsters like Jan and Romero (although Romero barely wrestled), I am sure he can pick Nickal apart

lmao jan??? the wresslin/grappling difference between Bo and Jan is humongous. Jan is not a wressler to begin with. Bo would dispose of Izzy and Pereira quickly if he doesn’t fight stupid.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Bo has a lot of work to do. Needs to slow down and not worry so much about fast tracking to the top. Izzy will be on his way out soon, but Khamzat will remember what he's said about him, and Bo needs to be ready in case they actually meet up someday. If they met tomorrow Khamzat would eat him alive, like one of those tiny octopuses