‘An inevitable thing’… Bo Nickal calls Khamzat Chimaev his biggest ‘rival’ ahead of UFC 309 main card showdown.

Bo Nickal on his “rivalry” with fellow undefeated UFC phenom Khamzat Chimaev

During his UFC tenure, Bo Nickal has expressed not only his admiration for Chimaev and his insane skills, but also his desire to one day face the undefeated “Borz.”

Speaking to Brett Okamoto ahead of his return at UFC 309, Nickal began by celebrating Chimaev’s recent performance against Robert Whittaker – a dominant first-round submission win in which he broke part of the Australian’s jaw.

“First of all, his fight against Whittaker was really impressive. To see someone do that to a veteran, a champion who defended his belt, that’s an incredible feat.

“When I watched the fight I was very impressed and every time I fight we get closer [to that being put together] … He’s obviously way ahead of me, I’m just trying to catch up, and it seems like, like you said, kind of an inevitable thing.”

While Nickal is currently unranked at middleweight, the path to a potential unbeaten-on-undefeated showdown is simple: “As long as I keep winning and he keeps winning, we’ll make it happen.”

“I hope he does [stay undefeated]I was hoping for him to win against Whittaker and he did great… I also liked the build-up, listening to his interviews and his demeanor, it seemed different to me. I think we’re a lot more alike than I originally thought.”

Nickal remains confident that he can win this fight without disrespecting the 14-0 phenom, although he later stated that he sees Chimaev as his biggest rival in the UFC.

“I always had great respect for him, I never felt that it would be disrespectful to confront him. I think he’s the best, so that’s the guy I want to fight… It would be great; We can’t really choose our rivals, but that would be great.

“Again, like I said, it’s not from a negative place but from a positive place because I respect him a lot. I think his skills are amazing… I just want to be the best, so I have to beat whoever is the best.”

Nickal returns at UFC 309 against Scottish submission specialist Paul Craig

Bo Nickal is currently 6-0 as a professional and 3-0 under the UFC banner, although his toughest test yet lies ahead at UFC 309 when he takes on Paul Craig in the evening’s main event.

Craig is 1-4 in his last five outings but remains one of the most dangerous grapplers on the entire UFC roster; While weaker fighters may be wary of engaging on the ground, Nickal is ready to steal victory no matter where the fight ends.

“I’m definitely not afraid of it,” said Nickal, who revealed he is actually 0-1 at Madison Square Garden after finishing second in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at The Mecca.

“For myself, I’m going into this fight with a very open mind. I feel like I don’t want to get caught up in, “This is how I have to win,” and visualization is important, but the way I see it, it almost comes to you – it’s not something that you project.

“With this fight, I feel like I’m going to be confident and comfortable wherever it goes… I have a good game plan and structure, but it’s a loose structure – I have room for creativity and improvisation.”

Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig leads to the co-main event between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler, with the evening headlined by heavyweight kings Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

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