Luke Rockhold knows what it takes to become UFC champion and he’s waiting for Bo Nickal to get on his level.
At a press conference for RAF 5 ahead of Saturday’s wrestling show in Sunrise, Fla., Rockhold and main event opponent Colby Covington teamed up to roast UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal, who began talking to them from the crowd. The longtime MMA veterans and former UFC titleholders ripped into Nickal with Covington calling him a “bozo” and Rockhold calling him a “college bum.”
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Speaking to MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck afterwards, Rockhold kept that same energy.
“Bo, we’ve had our back-and-forths a few times, I believe,” Rockhold said. “Bo is a condescending kid and he hasn’t done anything on a world level. We’re not talking about high school and college and what. That doesn’t mean anything in life, really. It’s what you’ve done on a world stage. This kid’s living in the past and he hasn’t done anything.
“He hasn’t beaten anybody and you’re talking to two guys that have held gold and been at the top for a long time. He thinks he should be in the main event in the most soggy way. You say certain things, then you act up, then you walk into the presser and you say hi with your head down. Be a man from start to finish.”
Strictly speaking in terms of MMA accomplishments, Rockhold has a point. Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman at UFC 194 in 2015 to become champion and also holds notable wins over Lyoto Machida and Michael Bisping. On the other side, Nickal’s accomplishments in the world of wrestling are unimpeachable, with Nickal having won three NCAA Division-I championships wrestling for Penn State University.
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In 2021, Nickal made the transition to MMA, winning his first nine fights (including a pair of amateur bouts) before running into the far more experienced Reinier de Ridder at UFC Des Moines this past May. De Ridder finished Nickal with strikes in the second round, bumping him off the fast-track to the front of the contender line, but the Colorado native rebounded in impressive fashion with a head kick knockout of Rodolfo Vieira in his next fight
As impressive as Nickal has been at times in the octagon, Rockhold still sees him as having a lot to prove before he can be in the same conversation as Rockhold and Covington.
“And f*cking earn a spot in the top 10 or do something in f*cking life before you open your mouth and you start talking about you deserve anything because you don’t deserve anything,” Rockhold added.
Rockhold faces Covington in the RAF 5 main event on Saturday, while Nickal takes on another former UFC star and all-time great wrestler Yoel Romero.
