Colorado’s pride, Bo Nickal, has been tearing through the opposition at middleweight. The young rising American prospect, Nickal, is on a four-fight win streak in the UFC. While he did beat and add veteran Paul Craig to the list of men he has beaten, he couldn’t win over the crowd as he gave a somewhat lackluster performance, not opting to play the fight to his strengths, or even give his opponent a challenge on the feet. Undefeated with a 7-0 record, Nickal is one week away from facing a much more experienced veteran of the sport, the Dutchman Reinier De Ridder.

As Nickal prepares for his toughest clash yet, he has shared an update on the completion of his training camp through a post on his Instagram. Sharing pictures from his gym, The American Top Team, the wrestler also showed a positive attitude heading into this bout, as he is looking for a victory at UFC’s Fight Night in Iowa. He wrote below the picture: “Training camp is done. The work is put in. Time to get down to weight, have some fun, and add another W in Iowa.” Next weekend, at UFC Des Moines, Nickal will also look forward to winning back the crowd he lost due to his infamous last performance.

Reinier De Ridder is not to be underestimated at any cost as well, a submission specialist, he has two wins in the UFC as of now and both came via submission as part of his incredible BJJ skills. With one week to go before these titans clash, Nickal will have to bring his absolute best in the Octagon to remain the rising prospect that he is and look for a place in the middleweight rankings.

De Ridder also talked about Nickal’s performance against Craig and revealed his opponent is rather scared of BJJ saying: “I think I have to make him wrestle. As we saw in the Paul Craig fight, I think he’s pretty scared of the jiu-jitsu on the floor. He’s pretty scared to get caught with something. So I think I need to make him wrestle.”

Bo Nickal, a 29-year-old NCAA Division-1 wrestler, is relatively new to the sport and is still an unranked fighter in the middleweight division. Out of his four wins, two have come via submission and one has come via knockout.

The American fighter’s biggest victory yet—over the Scotsman Craig—was a unanimous decision. Like Craig, however, De Ridder is also a BJJ specialist. Going by how Nickal’s last fight was hailed as a ‘Wrestling vs Jiu-Jitsu’ bout, it seems this fight will play along the same lines.

Bo Nickal takes on another BJJ specialist. Can De Ridder take one back for Jiu-Jitsu?

Bo Nickal is still an under-the-radar prospect of the UFC who still has a lot of tough competition to face ahead. With every up-and-coming fighter, there is a threat for him to lose just due to his relative inexperience. After a win in his last performance at UFC 309, Nickal will have to formulate a serious game plan if he wants to keep his undefeated record intact.

His opponent, however, although new in the UFC, boasts a much larger resume and massive experience with a title in ONE Championship, before he made his move over to the UFC. Even with just two wins in the UFC, the 34-year-old De Ridder faced top-level competition in Gerald Meerschaert and Kevin Holland. As he submitted them both, he made his way into the top 15 UFC middleweights, currently being ranked at #13.

Nickal’s superior wrestling background has already established him as a huge prospect among the MMA community. On the other hand, De Ridder’s BJJ background also brings layers of threat to the American-based wrestler’s undefeated streak. This fight represents a classic clash of styles. The legendary rivalry between BJJ specialists and wrestlers is about to see another set of practitioners in action.

Who do you think comes out as the victor as Bo Nickal takes on Reinier De Ridder on May 4th in Des Moines, Iowa? Let us know in the comments.