Dan Hardy calls out UFC for ‘curating’ Bo Nickal’s career ahead of wrestling star’s return to the Octagon
One-time UFC title challenger Dan Hardy is excited to see highly touted prospect Bo Nickal back in action this Saturday night but is concerned that the promotion may be doing him a disservice by booking him against Tresean Gore.
Nickal (4-0), is scheduled to make his sophomore appearance inside the Octagon at UFC 290 when the promotion heads back to the familiar confines of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Headlined by a featherweight championship unification bout, the event will give fans their fourth look at Nickal after two appearances on Dana White’s Contender Series and his official debut earlier this year. Nickal submitted Jamie Pickett under the three-minute mark of the opening round at UFC 285 and the odds favor him delivering a repeat performance against his next opponent, Tresean Gore.
Bo Nickal will go into the bout as a massive -1300 favorite. And while everyone, including Dan Hardy, is excited to see how the three-time Division I national champion performs, ‘The Outlaw’ believes that the UFC is falling into the habit of curating careers for fighters who could have spent a little more time honing their craft on the regional scene before signing with the Las Vegas-based promotion.
“I kind of feel like this one’s been matched for Bo Nickal to pick up another win,” Hardy said on his Outlawed Picks Podcast. “4-0 against 4-2. I’m very excited for Bo Nickal, but it’s like, sometimes I feel like fighters join the UFC a little bit too soon, and then you can kinda tell that they’re curating their career too much if that makes sense.”
Dan Hardy Expects Bo Nickal to Get Tresean Gore to the Mat in Under a Minute
As for how things go between Bo Nickal and Tresean Gore at UFC 290, Hardy fully expects Nickal to take things to the ground within the first 60 seconds en route to his second-straight finish inside the Octagon.
“I’m kind of expecting Bo Nickal to make the most of the pressure that Tresean Gore’s probably gonna put him under,” Hardy stated. Ultimately, I just think this fight’s gonna be on the floor within a minute, and Bo Nickal’s probably gonna be able to beat him up from top position to soften him up and then attack some kind of neck (submission); anaconda, arm triangle, rear-naked choke, etc., etc.” (h/t MMA News).
Tresean Gore is certainly no slouch, holding a solid 4-2 overall record, but he has failed to make much of a statement during his relatively short UFC tenure. ‘Mr. Vicious’ is 1-2 inside the Octagon, dropping back-to-back bouts against Cody Brundage and Bryan Battle before getting his hand raised against Josh Fremd in October.
