5 Things You Might Not Know About Bo Nickal

Bated-breath anticipation awaits the arrival of Bo Nickal.

The ballyhooed 27-year-old prospect will make his long-awaited Ultimate Fighting Championship debut when he toes the line against Jamie Pickett in a UFC 285 middleweight showcase on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Nickal has raced out to a perfect 3-0 start as a mixed martial artist. He last competed on Week 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series in September, when he needed just 52 seconds to dispatch Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Donovan Beard with a triangle choke.

As Nickal approaches his three-round battle with Beard at 185 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. Small-town America gave him his start.

Nickal was born on Jan. 14, 1996 in Rifle, Colorado—a city of roughly 10,000 people situated 185 miles to the west of Denver. It was referenced in Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic classic “The Stand,” which was first published in 1978. Nickal’s family later relocated to New Mexico and then Texas.

2. He was made for the singlet.

A phenom on the mat in every sense of the word, Nickal was a three-time state champion as a prep wrestler at Allen High School in Allen, Texas, where he graduated with a remarkable 183-7 record. He went on to star at Penn State University, capturing three NCAA championships and finishing his career with .976 winning percentage. Nickal was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy—collegiate wrestling’s equivalent to the Heisman—in 2019 and went on to place second to eventual gold medalist David Taylor in the United States Olympic Trials at 86 kilograms in 2021.

3. He sought out the best of the best.

Nickal operates out of the famed American Top Team camp in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he counts former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Mike Thomas Brown as one of his mentors and trains alongside a variety of world-class stablemates.

4. His transition to MMA could not have run more smoothly.

The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler has finished his first three opponents as a mixed martial artist in 2:27 combined. In addition to his aforementioned rout of Beard, he punched out John Noland in 33 seconds at an iKon Fighting Championship show on June 3, 2022 and submitted Zachary Borrego with a rear-naked choke in 62 seconds during Week 3 of DWCS on Aug. 9, 2022.

5. Competitive fire was in his DNA.

Nickal’s parents were successful collegiate athletes. His mother, Sandy, played basketball for San Diego State University, and his father, Jason, played football for Chadron State College in Nebraska.