Wrestling sensation Bo Nickal is set to make his MMA debut at Jorge Masvidal’s MMA promotion iKon Fighting Championship.
Nickal (0-0) will make his professional MMA debut when he fights John Noland (0-0) in a middleweight match at Jorge Masvidal’s iKon Fighting Federation event. The event will take place on June 3 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, and will be broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.
Nickal, 26, was 2-0 as an amateur before his professional MMA debut in September 2021. One first-round submission and one wildly devastating knockout terminated both of his fights within the distance.
Nickal was a three-time Division-I national champion and three-time Big Ten conference champion at Penn State long before his MMA career began. He had a 120-3 record in college, with a 61-0 mark in his junior and senior years. In the 92kg (202.8-pounds) weight class, he won a national title and an under-23 global championship in 2019.
Nickal won the Dan Hodge Trophy in 2019, which is given to the finest wrestler in the country. He also won the Schalles Award twice, which is presented to the best pinner in the country. He was also voted Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 2019. Nickal is a jiu-jitsu blue belt that practices at American Top Team in South Florida.
Noland, who also goes by John Conner, is 36 years old and hails from Alabama. He has a 6-3 amateur record, but he has lost three of his last four games. With two submissions and one stoppage due to strikes, three of his six amateur victories have occurred within the distance.
Highly regarded In his second amateur MMA fight, Bo Nickal scores a dramatic one-punch KO
Bo Nickal has been a prospect to watch since announcing his intention to compete in mixed martial arts in 2019. And he’s delivered in two amateur fights so far.
Nickal, a former Penn State University wrestler, won with a one-punch knockout at Island Fights 70 on Friday, down opponent Billy Goode with a strong left hook at the 2:58 mark of the first round to conclude the fight.
Jorge Masvidal, a UFC fighter, praised Nickal’s performance, calling the victory “manslaughter.”
Manslaughter by Bo “ko” Nickal @NoBickal #supernecessary pic.twitter.com/wtrOdPU5fY
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) November 6, 2021
Nickal’s knockout comes after a first-round guillotine choke victory against David Conley in his debut on Sept. 24.
From 2017 until 2019, Nickal, 25, was a three-time collegiate national champion at Penn State. His career record was 120-3, including going undefeated in his junior and senior years.
Former Bellator champion Phil Davis, Bubba Jenkins, Ed Ruth, and other highly regarded Penn State wrestlers have all switched to MMA.
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