Bo Nickal, Three-Time College Wrestling Champ, Wins Second MMA Fight in First Round

Nickal has yet to earn a UFC contract, but Dana White said Tuesday that he will if he wins his next fight.

Former college wrestling champion Bo Nickal won his second MMA fight Tuesday night during his fight against Zachary Borrego at Dana White’s Contender Series, exciting MMA fans rooting for arguably the greatest college wrestler of all time on the professional stage.

It only took Nickal 62 seconds to defeat Borrego with a guillotine choke, resulting in a first-round submission.

BO NICKAL GETS THE FIRST-ROUND SUBMISSION 😤 #DWCS pic.twitter.com/OrHHtHUvMU

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 10, 2022

Despite the dominating win Tuesday night, White did not offer Nickal a UFC contract yet. White invited him back to another DWCS fight, and if he is able to win that one, then Nickal will earn a contract.

The 26-year-old only made his professional MMA debut on June 3. He faced John Noland in the middleweight division at Jorge Masvidal’s iKon FC event. Nickal won in less than a minute by a knockout.

Nickal wrestled at Penn State and captured three Division I national championship titles (2017, ‘18, ‘19). In his freshman year, he earned silver for the national title. He also earned three Big Ten championships, earning bronze in ‘17.

On top of a NCAA championship and Big Ten title in 2019, Nickal also won the U.S national championship and the U23 World Championships in Budapest that year.

Nickal was a finalist to compete for Team USA in last year’s Tokyo Olympics, losing to fellow Penn State alum David Taylor to represent his country in the men’s freestyle event.