Bo Nickal sees Reinier de Ridder as a logical step up in competition.
Nickal (7-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) takes on former ONE Championship title holder De Ridder (19-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a three-round middleweight bout May 3 at UFC on ESPN 67 from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Nickal revealed that he specifically wanted to fight De Ridder.
“This is a matchup that I asked for, so I feel like it’s a matchup that’s exciting for a lot of reasons,” Nickal said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “He’s had a lot of success in other organizations, had success in the UFC, and it’s a natural step up for me. I want to keep fighting better and better guys.
“This is a guy who has a proven track record and many, many finishes. It’s an interesting matchup. It’s a similar matchup to the Paul Craig fight, where he’s got more of a jiu-jitsu style. But I think obviously with him being on a win streak and also having a different type of style on the feet, I think it will prove to be an interesting fight, but I’m pumped up.”
Nickal is coming off his biggest win to date, a unanimous decision over formerly ranked light heavyweight Paul Craig at UFC 309. The standout wrestler wants to continue testing himself but admits it hasn’t been easy to find the right type of opponent.
“There are some people who want to fight me, and there are a lot who don’t,” Nickal said. “It seems like the people who want to fight me, it’s all upside for them, and they maybe want to gain some clout off my name. Then the people that, as I move up the ranks, that maybe have a lot to lose, they don’t want to take the matchup as much.
“In reality, there’re only about half a dozen people I could fight because of what makes sense with my career and my progression. At the end of the day, I asked for this fight. It was a fight that I wanted, and I don’t know that he wanted it, but the UFC is the one who makes the decisions. They like it, and we’ll do it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 67.
