Bo Nickal feels he will finish his UFC 285 opponent, Jamie Pickett, in the first round with either a knockout or submission.
Nickal will make his UFC debut on Saturday night’s card after two impressive performances on Dana White’s Contender Series. The 27-year-old will face Jamie Pickett, who is on two-fight losing streak.
During an interview with Daniel Cormier, the Colorado man revealed that he is looking to earn a first-round finish when he goes up against Pickett.
He said: “First-round finish, for sure. It’s hard to predict [between a knockout or submission] with fighting.
“I think that more than likely I’ll probably submit him, but you land a big shot and it’s over.
“I definitely have knockout power, so I think he’s gonna be really worried about the wrestling, which opens up the striking as you know.
“I think more than likely a submission, but you never know – I might put him out.”
Bo Nickal Full Interview
Nickal is a three-time NCAA Division 1 and, despite only making his professional MMA debut under a year ago, has had a lot of pressure mounted on him to dominate his upcoming opponent – both by himself as well as by fans.
Since his debut in June 2022 he has had three fights, winning all of them by first-round – stoppage something that he has promised to do to his opponent.
During the same interview with Cormier, the former Penn State wrestler spoke about the pressures of having to dominate Pickett.
He said: “As far as the pressure, I definitely do feel that.
“People expect me to go out there and finish this guy. I’m a big favourite, but I would say that really aligns with how I feel internally too. It’s not like out of alignment. I feel very aligned in that my expectation is a first-round finish.
“I wanna go out there, dominate, smash this guy, and so, it’s not any different than what anyone else thinks. I feel more pressure from myself than I do from anyone else.”
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
