UFC middleweight star Bo Nickal doesn’t put Islam Makhachev’s wrestling in excessive esteem forward of the light-weight champ’s return.
Makhachev will face Dustin Poirier within the UFC 302 important occasion on Saturday in Newark. He returns to defend the UFC light-weight title after back-to-back wins over Alexander Volkanovski in 2023.
Makhachev, a prime protégé of UFC Corridor of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, is understood to have smothering wrestling and ground-and-pound. His putting has additionally vastly improved throughout his skilled profession.
Nickal, a former NCAA Division I wrestling nationwide champion, is an encyclopedia of data within the craft. Whereas he respects Makhachev’s skillset, he doesn’t put Makhachev’s wrestling up with the highest wrestlers within the UFC.
Former NCAA champ Bo Nickal on Islam Makhachev’s wrestling
Throughout a current episode of the Nickals and Dimes podcast, Nickal was requested how he’d charge Makhachev’s wrestling in comparison with among the different prime UFC names.
“It’s alright, I truthfully haven’t watched a ton of movie on him, I’ve watched some, and his wrestling isn’t like Khabib [Nurmagomedov]’s,” Nickal mentioned of Makhachev. “Khabib has significantly better wrestling in my view total, however he’s obtained difficult, sneaky stuff…
“I feel his putting is perhaps a bit of higher than Khabib’s, a bit of sharper…it’s okay. It’s higher than common. It’s not like world-class wrestling, nevertheless it’s good.”
Nickal has been brutally sincere together with his assessments of among the prime fighters within the UFC. He’s downplayed Khamzat Chimaev’s wrestling repeatedly forward of a possible middleweight conflict down the road.
Makhachev is trying to win his 14th consecutive combat and his third profitable title protection. He earned the then-vacant belt by tapping out Charles Oliveira at UFC 280.
Makhachev has the possibility to silence Nickal and a few of his different detractors this weekend. Whereas Nickal respects the light-weight champion’s expertise, he doesn’t take into account Makhachev’s wrestling to be elite.