Bo Nickal says he’s in the course of his largest profession weight reduce for a combat in his profession.
The wrestling standout turned MMA prodigy returns to the octagon this Saturday to face former ONE Championship titleholder Reiner de Ridder within the co-main occasion of UFC Des Moines.
Nickal opened up a whole lot of eyes with an Instagram submit earlier this week, revealing that he started combat week at a whopping 222.6 kilos. The Penn State wrestling legend was requested if that quantity was actual, or if it was unbelievable gamesmanship, forward of his largest take a look at up to now.
“An enormous a part of my final camp these previous couple of months has been to bulk up,” Nickal advised MMA Combating. “I felt like that’s one thing that I wished to give attention to was getting my weight somewhat increased and ensuring that I’m a full-size middleweight. So coming in on the weight, it’s simply a part of the job for me. Bringing the load down is one thing that I’m used to.
“With wrestling, I’ve weighed in in lots of of instances since I’ve been at a younger age and it’s enterprise as typical for me. In order that was positively somewhat greater than what I’m used to, however a part of the job. No worries. …
“It was somewhat heavier than what I anticipated, and I used to be carrying a hoodie and stuff like that, so it was rather less than what we noticed on the size, however, yeah, I knew I had a whole lot of work to do at that second, however it’s once more, a part of the job.”
Nickal is coming off of a pay-per-view important card victory over Paul Craig this previous November at UFC 309 in New York Metropolis — which he did in entrance of present President Donald Trump.
The 29-year-old was requested if this will probably be his largest reduce to make weight in his brief MMA tenure this week.
“It’s the most important reduce [for a fight] for positive,” Nickal defined. “I feel that I’m all the time seeking to regulate issues and be sure that I’m, in every camp and every coaching cycle, bettering and getting higher, and I felt just like the [extra] dimension is one thing that’s good for me.”
The American Prime Staff standout is 4-0 contained in the octagon since incomes a contract on Dana White’s Contender Collection. Nickal additionally competed on the historic UFC 300 occasion in April 2024 the place he stopped Cody Brundage by way of submission within the second spherical.
When requested for a mid-week replace on his weight reduce, Nickal is retaining the thriller to himself.
“Let’s simply say I’m somewhat lighter than what I used to be earlier this week,” Nickal stated. “Yeah, I’m not at that weight.”
