“Jon Almost Got Embarrassed”- Footage of Jon Jones and Bo Nickal Wrestling Ahead of UFC 285 Leaves Fans Questioning Heavyweight Debutant

As we inch closer to UFC 285 and the return of former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, one can’t help but look in awe at the stacked card that the promotion has built for this event. Going down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the event, along with Jones, will also see the likes of Valentina Shevchenko, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Cody Garbrandt among others as part of the line-up. While headlining the main event is Jones, who is making his heavyweight debut, another American prospect in 27-year-old Bo Nickal, will also be making his much-awaited UFC debut giving fans another reason to tune in. Nickal is an undefeated Dana White contenders graduate and is currently among the hottest prospects that the promotion has.

Interestingly, for MMA fans, both Nickal and Jones appear to share a great camaraderie, which was also evident during the former’s press conference when he talked about wrestling ‘Bones’ back in the performance institute. Now a video clip of the duo having a light-hearted wrestling session in front of cameras has come to light, displaying the surprisingly friendly bond that the two share. Fans were also left equally surprised after seeing the clip, as was evident in the comment section.

The video clip shows UFC prospect Bo Nickal wrestling Jon Jones 

A clip shared by a popular MMA page on Instagram showed the three-time NCAA champ and the former light heavyweight champ having a go at each other backstage. Although unconfirmed, it appears that the meeting took place after or prior to the media day that was held a few days earlier.

While fooling around with each other, the competitiveness in them was clearly visible as both didn’t appear to give an inch despite it being a light-hearted interaction. What makes the interaction between the two interesting is Nickal’s credentials as a wrestler. The former NCAA division one champ is a celebrated wrestler who was on his way to the Olympics before meeting his match in David Taylor during the US Olympic trials. After losing both his bouts to Taylor in a best-of-three championship series match, the 27-year-old’s Olympic dream came to a halt. Despite this shortcoming, Nickal shifted his focus to MMA and eventually ended up earning a UFC contract after his impressive outings in the DWCS fights.

Jones, on the other hand, despite not having the wrestling resume of Nickal, is still considered amongst the best fighters in the MMA community. His fights against Daniel Cormier, another Olympic wrestler, displayed his actual capacities as a wrestler as Cormier couldn’t get him down during any of their clashes.

Nickal’s latest statement that he was successfully able to hold his own against a larger Jones, while even stopping a takedown from him, had left fans wondering about the authenticity of his words. But considering that it was a purely wrestling session, as mentioned by the middleweight, the possibility of that happening does appear somewhat likely.

Fans react to the clip as both fighters get ready for UFC 285

As the video gained traction, fight fans naturally stormed the comment section. While some wondered what would happen if the duo were to clash, a few felt that Nickal was a clearly better wrestler than Jones.

A couple of the comments wondered what would happen if they were to close the door and wait till one of them walked out.

“So you guys think walks out if that door closed?”

“If that door closed for 30 seconds best believe jon Jones would be the one to open it.”

No doubt, fans of the former light heavyweight came out rooting for their fighter.

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“anyone who is acting like Jon was being serious is crazy. Jon would destroy Bo in a wrestling match , obviously Jon is bigger with a wrestling background. ….But yet Jon is known for his striking…”

“Jones coming from a wrestling background but known for his striking.. Damn..”

” Jones would walk through him.”

A Khamzat Chimaev fan was also found in the comments.

“Khamzat EAT BO NICKAL Easily bruhhh.”

Someone had horrible timing with their joke, forecasting an injury to the duo.

“BREAKING: jon jones and bo nickal fall on each other. Both out of their fights on Saturday.”

But the craziest reaction was by this fan, who claimed that Nickal was just too good for Jones.

“Jon almost got embarrassed.”

Both fighters will be making some sort of debut when they set foot inside the cage at UFC 285 this coming weekend. While the 27-year-old is set to make a huge step up after his DWCS appearances, Jones, on the other hand, is making a return to the cage after a three-year layoff and a much-talked-about heavyweight debut. Their fights might just be the most important ones of their career so far. A win here will propel one as a top prospect and a future contender, while the other will most probably go down as the greatest of all time.

Despite such a significant difference between the two careers, there appear to be more similarities than one could have imagined as we head into what could be the most stunning card of the year for the UFC.

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