UFC News: Bo Nickal Offered Former Champ, Details Why Massive Fight Is a No-Go

Bo Nickal was made an offer he couldn't refuse... but, it was one that he couldn't accept, at the time.

It's been a pretty fast track for the three-time NCAA wrestling champion, who made his UFC debut last year after turning pro not too long ago in 2022. Nickal closes the experience gap with his insane wrestling credentials that have made for quick and rather easy nights in the office, improving to 6-0 with his latest submission-win coming over Cody Brundage at UFC 300.

Following his lopsided fights, the world is wondering when the highly-touted Nickal will get a step-up in competition and how he'd fare against the elite of the middleweight division. Those questions could have been answered as early as this month, had Nickal picked up the phone.

UFC News: Bo Nickal Offered Former Champ, Details Why Massive Fight Is a No-Go — Apr 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Bo Nickal (red gloves) fights Cody Brundage (blue gloves) during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

‘Violently Ill’ Khamzat Chimaev off UFC Saudi Arabia, Robert Whittaker's New Foe

Last week, the UFC apparently paged Nickal for a potential fight with former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker after Khamzat Chimaev withdrew from their upcoming main event matchup in Saudi Arabia. However, the middleweight matchup wasn't able to come to fruition as Nickal explains:

"Unfortunately, I got a call [to fight Whittaker] while I was in the mountains of Montana and I didn't get back to cell service for three days," Nickal said on his YouTube channel. "I came back into cell service to a few text messages saying, 'Call me back, call me back, call me back...' and it was too late."

By the time Nickal was back on the grid, another middleweight prospect in Ikram Aliskerov had accepted the fight with Whittaker on about a week's notice - a fight nobody else had wanted, according to Whittaker.

While Nickal didn't get the chance to sign the contract, he did take a look at the amount of 0's next to the fight offer...

"I'm not gonna like, disclose numbers, but they were up there," Nickal said of the payday that would have come with fighting Whittaker. "It was just too late. I couldn't even really consider it because they had already kind of figured everything out the way they were gonna do it, because I was gone."

Bo Nickal is rumored to be fighting BJJ black belt Rodolfo Vieira later this year in what would be a wrestling vs. grappling showcase, however that fight has yet to be confirmed by the UFC.

UFC's Robert Whittaker Unfazed by Chimaev Cancellation: 'Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere'

As for Robert Whittaker, the former champ says he didn't know who his next opponent Ikram Aliskerov was when he initally signed off on it. All he knew was that he wanted to fight in Saudi Arabia, whether it was Khamzat Chimaev, Bo Nickal, or someone else altogether.

“Ikram brings a different threat to the table. I hadn’t heard of him or seen him fight before that, so sometimes you just got to take things as they come," Whittaker told New York Post Sports.

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