Joe Pyfer shares thoughts on Bo Nickal's past overconfidence

Joe Pyfer is gearing up to face Bo Nickal at UFC Cleveland in early 2027. It'll be a bout between two middleweight prospects who both have the promotional weight of the UFC behind them, and Pyfer hopes that Nickal will have learned from his past cockiness and realized that freestyle wrestling credentials don't matter all that much in MMA.

Freestyle wrestling is not MMA wrestling, says Joe Pyfer

In the past, Bo Nickal approached MMA with an air of arrogance. He was dismissive of everyone else's wrestling and grappling, especially in the middleweight division. He was, after all, a three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion. In 2019, he was recognized as the best collegiate wrestler in the United States when he won the Dan Hodge Trophy. On the MMA front, Nickal was also undefeated in his first seven fights, with his first six fights being finishes. So, naturally, his confidence was sky high.

Perhaps too high.

Before even fighting ranked competition, he started commenting on potential matchups with Israel Adesanya and Khamzat Chimaev, both men who have held UFC middleweight gold. He even derided 'Borz' for not finishing all of his fights against top ranked competition, while praising his own finishes over unranked journeymen. Eventually, Nickal was forced to eat his own words when he suffered a second-round TKO loss at UFC on ESPN 67 to Reinier de Ridder. While he has since rebounded from the loss by going on a two-fight win streak, some still wonder if his outlook has changed. 

So, as Joe Pyfer spoke to Ariel Helwani in a recent edition of The Ariel Helwani Show, he was asked whether Nickal, who he will face sometime in February at UFC Cleveland, has been humbled (9:49):

"I think he's humbled up a little bit. I wouldn't say dramatically, but I think he's humbled up a little bit. I think he's a little bit more wise to understand that you can't just go in there and wrestle anybody. MMA wrestling is completely different than what he's been doing his whole life in a lot of ways. You don't get to start in your tie-ups and wrist control and all these other things. You have to use your strikes to set up everything and be able to get inside safely, and I'm not a guy that you can get in on easily."

Pyfer is also a wrestler, though not nearly as credentialed as Nickal, which doesn't always matter in MMA. After all, Merab Dvalishvili managed to outwrestle an Olympic champion in Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. Wrestling aside, Pyfer has also beaten better fighters than Nickal has. He is coming off a second-round TKO of Adesanya, who he faced at UFC Fight Night 271, and he has also beaten former interim UFC middleweight title challenger Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision at UFC 316.

The sheer power that Pyfer possesses will lead to an interesting dynamic come fight night, as it's unlikely Nickal will want anything to do with him on the feet, but if Nickal can't get the takedown, it'll be a short night for him.