One question during Bo Nickal’s exclusive chat with Ariel Helwani was all it took for the dominoes to start falling. “Bo vs. David Taylor?” asked the MMA journalist. A question that made the 29-year-old chuckle. The question came shortly after the UFC middleweight announced that he would be returning to wrestling at the Real American Freestyle event. Nickal’s answer was even more surprising.

“He doesn’t want that… I doubt it,” said Nickal about David Taylor wanting to wrestle the former NCAA champion. “He does. Yeah, he has two, but I don’t think he’s training hard,” added the UFC star when Helwani pointed out Taylor already beating Nickal. Nickal emphasized that while Taylor is doing an excellent job as OSU’s head coach, he is rusty. However, the response prompted a chain reaction.

FlowWrestling’s Christian Pyles listened to the segment and made a lengthy explainer about why Bo Nickal would be so dismissive of his former Penn State teammate. Pyles explained how Nickal and Taylor’s beef started brewing six years ago in 2018, and by the end of it, Nickal agreed. “Really accurate analysis from an outside perspective,” the UFC middleweight wrote while re-posting Pyles’ video. But there was a catch.

With the keyword being ‘outside’ perspective, the former U23 world champion spoke about the missing details. “A lot of private details missing that I haven’t spoken about publicly. Should I air it all out? @FloWrestling,” Nickal asked while tagging the official FloWrestling page on X. While neither Pyles, Nickal, nor David Taylor has made the next move, things could get worse if the chain reaction continues.

So what did FlowSport‘s content director get right? Well, Pyles successfully traced the origins of the friction between Bo Nickal and David Taylor. Pyles revealed that what started as a leg injury for the former Olympic gold medalist against Drew Foster played a big part in creating the rift. As the 2018 world champion, Taylor had the cushion of competing in the Final X despite not competing in any other contest.

Hence, staying in line with the synergy at the Nitany Lions camp, Nickal moved to 92 Kg, giving Taylor the space to compete at 86 Kg. Yet, by the time Final X rolled around, Taylor didn’t compete, which meant that Pat Downey, whom Nickal had beaten earlier, would fill the 86Kg spot on the team. Pyles argued that Nickal, who was more comfortable at 86 Kg, felt deprived of a better chance to qualify as he lost the 92 Kg bout to Jayden Cox. “So this is the friction,” said Pyles. However, with that aside, and considering this isn’t his first David Taylor-related controversy, Nickal isn’t planning a full-time return to wrestling.

Why Bo Nickal signed up for the RAF

The 29-year-old UFC star explained that what drew him to the Real American Freestyle was the buzz the upcoming event has created. While pro wrestling orgs like the WWE have captivated audiences for decades, shining a limelight on the more traditional freestyle wrestling has been a long time coming. “It’s just pushing the sport forward,” the former 3x Big Ten Champion said.

Bo Nickal added that the RAF is “making it exciting, fun, and giving the audience more opportunities to see the best guys wrestle” while chatting with Helwani. Another thing that stood out to the former Nittany Lions star was the production quality the RAF is going for. The UFC middleweight also said the RAF has the potential to fill the long gap between two NCAA seasons.

Real American Freestyle’s Chief Operating Officer, Izzy Martinez, agrees with Nickal’s impressions. “We’ve got the best wrestlers, the best promoters, the best storytellers, the best production, and the best team, and we’re going to give audiences the thrill of a lifetime on August 30 with RAF01,” said the wrestling veteran. That doesn’t mean Nickal’s priorities will change.

The RAF01’s convenient timing perfectly lines up with Bo Nickal’s trajectory. After losing his first UFC fight against Reinier de Ridder, the middleweight prospect is looking to hit the reset button before jumping right back in the octagon. After all, the former wrestler’s true focus is on the 185-pound UFC belt, and everything else is little more than a side quest. Yet, there’s also a chance that we haven’t seen the last of the chapter in the Nickal vs. Taylor saga.