UFC 322: Bo Nickal full media day interview
UFC 322 fighter Bo Nickal spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his middleweight preliminary card bout vs. Rodolfo Vieira
NEW YORK – The Bo Nickal hype train didn’t stop following his first career loss, much to his surprise.
Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) entered the UFC in 2023 with lofty expectations as a decorated collegiate wrestler who starched two opponents on Dana White’s Contender Series. Through his first three fights, he lived up to the spotlight by finishing Jamie Pickett, Val Woodburn and Cody Brundage.
Things slowed down when he successfully went the distance with Paul Craig. He was still victorious, but many questions were raised after the bout, which was not well-received by the audience at Madison Square Garden. Then came the loss against Reinier de Ridder. Nickal was stopped in the second round after a step-in knee to the body.
Nickal was surprised by the amount of support he received after the first blemish on his professional record.
“I actually got way more love and support after my last loss than I did even my wins previous,” Nickal told reporters at UFC 322 media day. “It was something that I was surprised with. I figured that everybody would kind of jump ship and just let me be, but the amount of support and love that I had, probably 50 percent more text messages and people saying things like, ‘Just keep your head up,’ and ‘You’ll be back,’ and stuff like that. There was more people texting me than the people that texted me after I had won fights. So, that was something I was really grateful for, and just really appreciative.”
With the support keeping his spirits high, Nickal went back to the drawing board with a new focus. Now, there’s no pristine record to maintain, and in the eyes of some, the expectations for his career path have changed. At one point, Nickal was viewed as a fighter who could shoot straight to the top of the division in quick fashion, like current UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev.
Nickal says he’s focusing on himself more than before, and admits that at times, he has been distracted by things outside of fighting.
“I think that for me, it felt like a lot of changes because I really just changed a lot of stuff mentally and had a different level of focus, and intensity, and motivation with my training,” Nickal said. “I think that the loss has been something that’s been really good for me and something that I’m grateful for. The hard part is just now it’s felt like a long time, and I’ve been waiting, just working and grinding – excited to get back in there this weekend.”
At UFC 322 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+/FX, ESPN+), Nickal takes on Rodolfo Vieira, a fighter with a decorated jiu-jitsu background. The fight serves as the featured preliminary bout just before the pay-per-view portion of the card at MSG. Nickal knows what to expect from Vieira (11-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), and is up for the challenge as he returns to the octagon with a renewed focus.
“Of course, you know Rodolfo is world-class, not only in one sport, but in two sports, which is impressive,” Nickal said. “So, it’s something you got to respect the guy going in. I think that for me, it’s really a lesson that I learned from my last fight is just to focus more on myself than my opponent, and just work on continuing to round out and perfect my skills and the fundamentals of fighting. I got respect for Rodolfo, and he’s been able to accomplish a lot, but this camp and all the training leading up has been focused on me.”
