Khamzat Chimaev recently returned to action in a middleweight bout against Kamaru Usman. Fellow middleweight fighter and highly-rated prospect, Bo Nickal seemed to have taken some notes from the fight. The 27-year-old recently revealed the pros and cons he observed in Chimaev’s fighting style during a recent interview on ‘The MMA Hour’.

Bo Nickal is one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC today and Khamzat Chimaev is a fighter of a similar ilk to the 27-year-old. Both fighters are undefeated and many suggest that a fight between them in the future is highly possible to take place. When Ariel Helwani asked Nickal about his thoughts on Chimaev’s recent performance at UFC 294, the former NCAA champion claimed to have made some keen observations. Let’s see what he had to say.

Bo Nickal claimed that Khamzat Chimaev almost finished off Kamaru Usman in the first round

The 27-year-old undefeated middleweight fighter mentioned that he was able to get the time to watch Khamzat Chimaev’s UFC 294 fight. He thought of it as an interesting bout since ‘Borz’ and Kamaru Usman were both welterweights before making the jump to the middleweight division.

“Yes, I was able to watch the fight. I felt like, you know, it was an interesting matchup given that they’re both 170-pounders fighting 85,” said Bo Nickal. He further mentioned that he acknowledged the fact that Chimaev had a dominant showing during the first round of the fight. However, things slowly started to slow down as the rounds progressed.

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“I felt like first round, he looked lights out. He… got Usman on the ground, held him down, beat him up. [He] was close to the finish a couple of times and then kind of slowed the pace for both of them as the rounds went on,” Nickal further stated. The 27-year-old mentioned that he would have liked to watch how both fighters would have fared in a 5-round fight. But he understood Kamaru Usman’s position of having taken that fight on short notice but looked to be in better shape than Khamzat Chimaev after the fight ended.

“I would have liked to have seen that been a five-round fight. I think that obviously Usman on short notice felt like three rounds was better option for him. But he looked like he was the fresher guy at the end of the fight,” Bo Nickal added. Meanwhile, Bo Nickal also uncovered the strengths and weaknesses of Chimaev. Let’s have a look at that front.

27-year-old finds “holes” in Chimaev’s game

Despite going back and forth with Khamzat Chimaev in the past, Bo Nickal did not fail to give credit to the Emirati fighter where it was due. He praised ‘Borz’s grappling ability and the ability to pin his opponent down. On the other hand, Nickal also mentioned taking notes of a few weaknesses that Chimaev had which were taken advantage of by the former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman. Nickal further stated, “There’s a lot to take from that on both ends – positively and negatively. Positively, he’s got great grappling… and then also saw a few holes and a few areas where Usman kind of took advantage of him.”

In addition to reviewing Chimaev’s fighting style, Bo Nickal stated that getting to watch the fights of his future or potential opponents is always a major benefit to him. He even talked about how these assessments can help him prepare for the time when he eventually gets inside the octagon against ‘Borz’. “For me, every fight that I get to watch from my opponents and guys that I might fight in the future is a big learning experience and I just try to download all that info and take it into my training so I can be ready when the time comes,” Nickal added.

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It remains to be seen when UFC fans will get to see Bo Nickal and Khamzat Chimaev fight inside the Octagon. However, the 27-year-old already has his next fight. He is scheduled to take on Cody Brundage at UFC 300, while there is no word as to what’s next for Chimaev since he’s been injured and suffering a medical condition. We will have to wait and see how things pan out for both fighters in the future.

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