UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal recently claimed that Khamzat Chimaev cannot take him down, which is his “best attribute.” Well, former dual-champ Daniel Cormier recently weighed into that and made his analysis regarding the grappling style of the two 185’ers. Through his analysis, ‘DC’ appeared to claim that there is one particular way Nickal could avoid getting taken down by Chimaev should they ever find each other inside the Octagon.

As good as the Penn State alum has been as an amateur wrestler, things change when it comes to MMA, according to Daniel Cormier. Khamzat Chimaev has been touted to be the best MMA wrestler, but the ‘DC’ believes ‘Borz’ has one drawback when it comes to his wrestling style. DC claimed that Nickal could easily dodge and defend Chimaev’s takedown because the Chechnya-born prefers to shoot his attempts from a distance. For an NCAA wrestler, defending those is like a cakewalk.

“One area that would give me a little bit of concern if you’re team Chimaev is that most of his shots are from distance. Those will not work against Bo Nickal,” Daniel Cormier stated on his YouTube channel. “Shots from the outside, like he [Khamzat] did against Robert Whittaker, like he did against Gilbert Burns, where he just kind of level changes and explodes into the guys, that won’t work against Bo Nickal.”

Cormier also recalled getting taken down by some of his former rivals, like Jon Jones, but there was a difference here. He claimed to have fallen victim to takedowns when he was backed to the fence, but in the middle of the cage, he would always defend them, and that too, pretty easily. “In the open, you can defend all day as the wrestler,” ‘DC’ added.

While it’s interesting to discuss how things could go down between Khamzat Chimaev and Bo Nickal, it may not be possible to witness them fight anytime soon. According to the Chechen wolf, Nickal is just not ready for him.

Khamzat Chimaev claims Bo Nickal ain’t ready for him yet

Bo Nickal contends that a fight featuring him opposite Khamzat Chimaev needs to be for the biggest occasion – a title fight. But on the other hand, ‘Borz’ believes that the prospect has a lot of growing up to do when it comes to the UFC. Citing that Dana White and Co. are trying to protect him for now, given that he’s been an MMA fighter for just over two years, Chimaev predicts a bad end for Nickal if he steps up to fight the 14-0 at the current stage of his career.

“The guy is too young for the sport. He has to grow up, and if we fight now, I’m gonna smash that guy easily in the first round. Maybe later, when I’m older, he’ll give me a tougher fight, but I’m for sure gonna win that time as well,” Khamzat Chimaev said in a recent interview. Seeing that Bo Nickal is just 7-0 in his MMA career, it could very well be an appropriate assessment of the 28-year-old.

Currently, Chimaev is in the running for a potential title fight against the winner of the UFC 312 headliner between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. On the other hand, Nickal is looking to improve himself following a rather lackluster outing against Paul Craig in his last fight. What do you think the future holds for both these middleweights? Let us know in the comments down below.

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