Don’t expect highly touted prospect Bo Nickal and Michael Chandler to start beefing anytime soon.
Nickal has made it clear that he has confidence in his ability to live up to the hype and beyond. The three-time NCAA Division I National Champion is off to a blazing start, going 4-0 with all of those fights ending in the first round to begin his pro MMA career.
Chandler recently told reporters that he thinks Nickal is getting a little too chatty for the fan’s liking. He said if he were advising Nickal, he’d tell him to focus more on developing his MMA skills instead of talking trash.
Nickal appeared on MMAFighting’s “The MMA Hour,” and he expressed gratitude to Chandler for his advice.
“Thank you – I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that statement,” Nickal said on The MMA Hour. “I think Michael Chandler is a fan of me. I think Michael Chandler wants me to win. First off he said my potential is exponential. So let’s listen to what he’s actually saying. He’s talking about it in the perspective of the fans. If I say, ‘Yo, give me Khamzat, I’ll violate this guy,’ 99 percent of MMA fans are going to say, ‘Bo Nickal is an idiot.’ They don’t know what they’re talking about.
“That’s the perspective I think Chandler is taking, especially when I hear you read the quote, he’s not hating on me at all. He’s not even a guy that I don’t think would do that, because he’s always been cool to me. He’s always been nice to me. He’s a wrestler.”
Nickal is fresh off a first-round submission victory over Jamie Pickett at UFC 285 earlier this month. Pickett was set to appeal the loss, alleging that his opponent caught him with a low blow that should’ve been called by the referee. He’s since been informed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that there is no conclusive evidence to suggest such a foul was committed by Nickal, and Pickett’s team decided to forgo an appeal.
