Bo Nickal is continuing to pitch a clash of American wrestlers.
A host of big-name fighters have been calling for a spot on the UFC card at the White House this coming June, and Nickal is among the favorites to secure one.
While the likes of Conor McGregor and Ilia Topuria vie for the main event in Washington D.C., the decorated collegiate wrestler looks to be a shoo-in for the undercard.
In terms of his opponent, Nickal wants to fight Colby Covington after they got into it at the press conference for the fifth Real American Freestyle event in January.
But rather than moving up to middleweight to challenge his fellow countryman, ‘Chaos’ most recently had his sights on the division below him.
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Bo Nickal criticizes Colby Covington for dodging their fight and targeting Paddy Pimblett
Having not fought since December 2024, Covington is in talks for his UFC return later this year.
He’s expecting the biggest fight of his career at the White House on June 14, and he seemingly wants it to come against recent lightweight title challenger Paddy Pimblett.
Covington and Pimblett clashed backstage at UFC 314 last April, setting the stage for a potential fight down the line. The former interim welterweight champion has been calling the Scouser out ever since.
After seeing his compatriot’s latest attempt to draw ‘The Baddy’ up to 170 pounds, Nickal took aim at Covington and accused him of ducking their fight.
“Colby talks c— about me then says he wants to move to 185 (pounds). I say okay let’s fight at the White House. Now he’s trying to run away,” Nickal wrote on X.
“What a wimp. Man up and take your beating @ColbyCovMMA”
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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Bo Nickal could be at risk of repeating the error that led to his first UFC loss
While Covington is clearly past his prime, having won just one fight since 2020, he would still mark another step up in competition for Nickal on paper.
And that would come just a year and one fight after an accelerated rise resulted in the American prospect suffering his first defeat in MMA.
Following Nickal’s TKO loss to Reinier de Ridder, American Top Team coach Mike Brown admitted that the UFC made the mistake of…
2026-02-15 13:00:00
