Jon Anik fully supports Bo Nickal’s spot on the UFC 300 main card: ‘There’s just a different electricity’
Jon Anik fully supports Bo Nickal’s spot on the UFC 300 main card.
Earlier this month, the promotion announced its bout order for what is primed to be the biggest card in UFC history. However, fans were quick to notice that Nickal, a fighter with only two appearances inside the Octagon thus far, would feature in the main card opener against Cody Brundage.
Backlash immediately ensued with pundits arguing that Nickal was not deserving of the spot over fighters like former UFC champions Jiri Prochazka and Aljamain Sterling who had been relegated to the preliminary portion of the card — not to mention two-time PFL champ Kayla Harrison who makes her highly anticipated debut against ex-titleholder Holly Holm.
But for Anik, Bo Nickal is right where he belongs in the coveted main card slot, noting that the promising prospect brings a certain “electricity” to the Octagon that will likely get things off to a roaring start at the promotion’s landmark event on April 13.
“Khamzat Chimaev, I would even throw out there 18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr., Bo Nickal – there’s just a different electricity when it comes to some of these guys,” Anik told MMA Junkie Radio. “You parlay their fight style with the expectation, and the pressure, and the fan intrigue, and I just think Bo Nickal checks a lot of boxes.
“For us, when we get through our pay-per-view open, and we have that exhale moment, when we get to sit down and watch that first fight on pay-per-view with all the masses around the world, that’s a very strategic position on the card. It’s a prime slot. Maybe at times you don’t get as many people as seen on during the featured prelim on ESPN, but they don’t mess around when it comes to that first fight. I can’t necessarily speak to Cody Brundage and the decision to feature him against Bo Nickal” (h/t Yahoo! Sports).
Bo Nickal is a massive favorite going into UFC 300
Thus far, Bo Nickal is a perfect 5-0 in his mixed martial arts career with all of his fights ending in the opening round. It only took him a combined 1:54 to run through back-to-back opponents on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022 before earning his UFC contract. Since then, he’s added two more wins, dispatching Jamie Pickett via an arm triangle choke in his promotional debut before sending Val Woodburn to the shadow realm with a 38-second KO at UFC 290.
Currently, Nickal is a massive -2100 favorite on DraftKings, meaning you would have to put $2,100 on the line to win $100. Brundage comes in at a +1100 underdog which would turn a $100 bet into $1,100 — should he pull off the upset.
The bout order for UFC 300 is as follows:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Champion Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill – UFC light heavyweight championship
- Champion Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan – UFC women’s strawweight championship
- Champion Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway – BMF title fight
- Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
- Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
- Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm
- Diego Lopes vs. Sodiq Yusuff
- Renato Moicano vs. Jalin Turner
- Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
- Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt
