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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Bo Nickal keeps a close eye on the entire middleweight division, but he’s always been drawn to a showdown against fellow undefeated wrecking machine Khamzat Chimaev.

With similar backgrounds in wrestling and grappling, the three-time NCAA champion from Penn State feels it’s inevitable that he’ll cross paths with Chimaev eventually, especially now that the Chechnya native competes full-time at 185 pounds. Most recently, Chimaev seemingly secured a title shot after earning a hard-fought win over ex-UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman when they met at UFC 294.

“I felt like it was an interesting matchup given that they’re both 170-pounders fighting at 185,” Nickal said about the fight on The MMA Hour. “There’s always some volatility, some unknowns there when guys are up a weight. I felt like first round, he looked lights out. He looked like he always looks. Got Usman on the ground, held him down, beat him up, was close to a finishing a couple of times, and then kind of slowed. The pace slowed for both of them as the rounds went on.

“I would have liked to have seen that be a five-round fight. I think obviously Usman on short notice felt three rounds was the better option for him, but it looked like he was the fresher guy at the end of the fight.”

Chimaev often gets off to fast starts in his fights, which accounts for his eight first-round finishes across his 13-0 overall career record.

He did the same against Usman with a lopsided opening round, but then Chimaev started to slow down as the former welterweight champion surged to a comeback.

“I think there’s a lot to take from that on both ends, positively and negatively,” Nickal said. “Positively, he’s got great grappling, he likes to overwhelm guys, he’s definitely very strong, very aggressive. Also saw a few holes and a few areas where Usman kind of took advantage of him.

“For me, every fight that I get to watch from my opponents and guys I might fight in the future is a big learning experience. I just try to download all of that info and take it into my training so I can be ready when the time comes.”

In the end, Chimaev still won, but Nickal definitely saw enough to know he could vanquish the so-called middleweight boogeyman.

“He’s a tough guy, of course,” Nickal said of Chimaev. “When you have a guy like Kamaru Usman, who is one of the all-time greats at his weight class, he was a champion, defended the belt multiple times, good wrestling base, and [Chimaev] is able to take him down and control him like what he did in the first round, I think there’s a lot to be said for that.

“But at the same time, I believe in myself and I think my skills match up very well against him. I feel like that’s a fight that I win.”

Nickal has never shied away from putting himself alongside the best middleweights in the world despite his relative inexperience in the sport.

With only five fights on his MMA résumé and his third UFC appearance booked against Cody Brundage at UFC 300 in April, Nickal may not have the record to match against the top contenders in the division just yet, but he has no doubts that he can go with anybody and win.

“I think that my wrestling ability is a huge X factor,” Nickal explained. “Every single guy has to prepare for me so differently than they would for any other fighter. That being said, I’m getting better and better every single day. A lot of these guys are older, they’re very deep in their careers, whereas I’m just starting, I’m getting better. There’s absolutely a clear path for me to the belt. That’s something for me, it’s on my mind every day. It’s a huge motivator for me.

“My goal is to be a UFC champion, No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and so I’m not really planning right now for beating Cody Brundage. Of course, that’s part of the training, but my main plan is to get that belt, defend my belt 10 times. That’s what I’m looking to do. You see the path, I see the path, I think everybody sees it. That’s why there’s as much hype as there is on me.”

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Predictions
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Everybody is picking on Mayra Bueno Silva.

That includes UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who claims the promotion asked him to “help a couple ladies do their job” when announcing his Dricus Du Plessis fight on Instagram. “Tarzan” will headline the UFC 297 fight card on Jan. 20 in Toronto, with Bueno Silva fighting Raquel Pennington in the five-round co-main event.

The winner will capture the vacant bantamweight title.

“Look, on paper, my fight with Raquel is not a good fight,” Bueno Silva told ESPN (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “But on paper, Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis is a good fight? No. Sean talks too much. He thinks he is a big star, but he is not a big star. I believe my fight and Sean’s fight, one helps the other.”

The UFC 297 lineup pales in comparison to UFC 298 and UFC 299.

“On paper, two bad fights for fans,” Bueno Silva continued. “But when we enter the Octagon, I do a good fight and Du Plessis does good fights, too. I don’t watch good fights from Sean Strickland. I don’t remember a good fight.”

“Sheetara” must have missed this banger.

Bueno Silva and Pennington came together for the Scotiabank Arena after Julianna Pena suffered a serious rib injury and was forced to the sidelines. “The Venezuelan Vixen” is expected to get first crack at the winner of Bueno Silva vs. Pennington when she returns to action later this year.

For the rest of the UFC 297 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Chris Weidman will confront some hard truths as he prepares to face Bruno Silva at the upcoming UFC Atlantic City card in March.

The former middleweight champion has undergone dozens of surgeries during his career but after suffering a devastating broken leg in 2021, which included a compound fracture, it appeared that perhaps his career was nearing its end. After enduring several more surgeries to repair the damage done, a determined Weidman finally made his return to the UFC this past August — over 800 days removed from his last appearance — but ultimately lost a one-sided decision to Brad Tavares.

Weidman will attempt to get back to his winning ways with his next appearance in March but he acknowledges that there’s a real chance this could be the final fight of his career.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure either [if I’d fight again],” Weidman told Daniel Cormier on his YouTube channel. “I’m setting myself up for the future and I wasn’t sure. I was just kind of listening to my body, trying to get healthy. Mentally and motivational wise and technique wise, I still think I’m top in the world but my body’s just taking a beating.

“This could be my last fight but I’m going to kind of make that decision throughout the training camp, see how I feel, if my body can handle a hard training camp again. It might be the last one, it might not be.”

Typically training out of South Carolina where his family lives, Weidman recently took a trip out to Las Vegas where he’s taken advantage of the UFC Performance Institute to help him get ready for his next fight.

As much as he remains undecided on his future, the 39-year-old former middleweight champion felt this particular date and location could serve as the perfect full circle moment for his career if this really could be the end.

“The reason why I took this fight pretty quickly, I didn’t even matter who it was is because it was offered and it was offered in Atlantic City,” Weidman explained. “That’s where I started my career in Atlantic City. Because at the time, MMA wasn’t legal in New York. All the New York guys had to fight in Ring of Combat in Atlantic City, Jersey. I just think it would be pretty cool to go back there where it all started and see how I feel.”

Looking back at his last performance, Weidman confessed that he struggled with the harsh reality that opponents were going to target his surgically repaired leg because that’s going to be perceived as a potential weakness.

Tavares blasted away at Weidman’s legs throughout the fight and the New York native just couldn’t quite pull the trigger in return.

“As soon as he kicked me, I wanted to come back with a kick, I was hesitating,” Weidman said. “I couldn’t do it. I saw his shin there and I hesitated with it.

“I didn’t like that so I’m really going to work in this fight camp dealing with leg kicks. Now I know these guys are going to be coming after my legs.”

Weidman won’t make any decisions right now but he knows the sand could be running out of the hourglass as far as his career goes. For now, he’s just going to pour everything into his preparation and look to take out Silva in March.

“Listen, obviously it’s a good payday,” Weidman said. “See how my body feels and we’ll go from there.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Veteran welterweight contender, Nate Diaz has claimed that he would be open to headlining UFC 300 in April coming, pointing to his failed main event clash with former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor back in 2016 atop UFC 200 in July of that year.

Diaz, a former undisputed lightweight title challenger under the banner of the promotion and victor of The Ultimate Fighter, exited the Dana White-led promotion officially back in November 2022, having landed a spectacular fourth round guillotine choke submission win over former interim lightweight titleholder, Tony Ferguson in a rallying performance.

Making a professional boxing debut back in August of last year in Texas, Diaz forced puncher, Jake Paul the distance in a one-sided unanimous decision loss in his first venture to the squared circle.

And continually linked with a stunning UFC comeback in the time since his departure, Stockton fan-favorite, Diaz claimed there were no viable options for him to fight in April at a potential UFC 300, amid links to a grudge match with Dustin Poirier, and a trilogy bout with the above-mentioned, McGregor.

Welcoming the opportunity to fight undisputed welterweight champion, Leon Edwards in a championship rematch, Diaz has been linked with a potential return to the boxing ring as soon as March, with a rematch against former symbolic BMF champion, Jorge Masvidal reportedly in the works for an event in Las Vegas.

Nate Diaz offers to headline UFC 300 in massive return

However, on his official social media account tonight, Diaz claims he would open to headlining UFC 300 in a stunning April comeback, having missed out on a planned UFC 200 rematch with rival, McGregor back in 2016.

“I was supposed to headline UFC 200,” Nate Diaz posted on his official X account, accompanied by a poster for his scheduled rematch with McGregor. “Headline (sic) UFC 300 would be better.”

Slated to headline UFC 200 in July 2016 against McGregor, whom he had defeated earlier that same year, Diaz was ultimately pulled from the bout with Dubliner, after the ex-two-weight champion refused to partake in media obligations and attend press events in order to promote the bout.

Diaz would subsequently headline UFC 202 in August of that year against two-time opponent, McGregor in a welterweight rematch, suffering a close, majority decision loss.

Do you expect Nate Diaz to make his return at UFC 300?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts