New UFC signing Bo Nickal has responded to Darren Till's taunt by mocking for getting "bodied" by Derek Brunson.
Nickal, 26, is a multiple-time NCAA gold medalist in wrestling who was signed to the UFC earlier this week following his second win on the Contender Series. The American has already been booked to make his UFC debut just days after his latest win as he fights Jamie Pickett on December 10 at the promotion's last pay-per-view event of the year in Las Vegas.
Till took note of Nickal's impressive win against Donovan Beard by tweeting: "Bo is looking good, be good to meet up with him in the future in the octagon. Drive the left hand through his skull." Nickal has replied to Till's call out by mocking him for being out-wrestled and eventually submitted by top middleweight contender Brunson in their first last September.
"Man, Darren, very very cute,” Nickal told Thiccc Boy Fight News. “I guess that’s my first impression: It’s a cute thing of you to say having just gotten absolutely bodied by Derek Brunson, another wrestler and grappler who’s a tough dude. I don’t know why you would say something like that, knowing what I can do to you. Hopefully we fight in the future and hopefully you’re ready. Good luck.”
Till partnered up with Khamzat Chimaev earlier this year in the hopes of improving his wrestling skills for his next fight, which takes place against Dricus Du Plessis on the same card that Nickal is competing on next. Nickal is only a year into his MMA career and is confident that he can become the UFC's pound-for-pound No.1 fighter in two years.
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Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)"I'm a year into this [fighting] so I don't really feel that I need to rush," Nickal added. "I am excited just to continue competing and improving, I think by the middle or end of 2024 that I'll be the champion and the number one guy on the roster. I'm not skipping steps on the way there, I feel like I've made a great progression in my first three fights and I've had steps up in competition and I'm going to continue to do that.
"I am always going to have a better wrestling base than anybody I fight, but that's not going to be enough to be a UFC champion. Right now for me it's about developing, getting better, so I've got to continue sharpening all my other skills to get there and I'm extremely confident that I will when the time is right."
