UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal has once again made it clear that he wants to fight Colby Covington later this year. Nickal is aiming for a clash on the proposed UFC White House card in June. The tension between the two fighters has been building for weeks. Their rivalry heated up after Covington publicly criticized Nickal ahead of his freestyle wrestling match against Luke Rockhold at RAF05.
Although the idea of the fight excited many fans, Covington quickly shut it down. He showed no interest in facing the undefeated wrestler in the octagon. Still, Nickal has refused to back away. Instead, he has continued to push for the matchup, believing it would be a perfect stage to settle their growing feud.
Bo Nickal doubles down as Colby Covington fires back at young star
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Bo Nickal strongly repeated his desire to fight Colby Covington in June. He said he wants the fight to happen in the UFC and believes he would dominate the former interim welterweight champion. Nickal claimed he would completely break Covington and put an end to his career. He suggested that Covington would never agree to wrestle with him and accused him of avoiding real competition.
Nickal also responded to comments about Covington possibly moving up to middleweight. He said that if Covington truly plans to change divisions, then facing him should not be an issue. Nickal added that he sees himself as an easy matchup to accept and promised to embarrass Covington on a global stage. He went further by calling Covington fake and questioned his wrestling background, saying he was never truly elite in the sport.
Colby Covington, however, has shown no interest in entertaining the challenge. Speaking after his wrestling appearance at RAF05, Covington dismissed Nickal’s callout completely. He mocked Nickal by labeling him a quitter and accused him of pulling out of past fights. Covington claimed Nickal backed out of a bout against Yoel Romero and suggested he also quit in his most recent UFC fight.
Covington even addressed his earlier criticism of Reinier de Ridder. He admitted he was wrong to call him a kickboxer and clarified that de Ridder is a grappler. He then used that point to argue that a fellow grappler was able to force Nickal to quit inside the octagon. Based on that, Covington said he has no interest in fighting someone he believes gives up under pressure.
For now, it will be interesting to see whether the UFC steps in to make the bout happen on the White House card.
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Colby Covington rejects Bo Nickal callout for potential UFC White House fight, calls him a “quitter”