UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal will have a keen eye on the Nov. 16 main event between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic once his assignment on the night is complete.
Nickal is set to feature on the main card of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden next weekend, where the main attraction will be the long-awaited first heavyweight title defense for an all-time great in Jones.
20 months on from his crowning and a year removed from an injury scuppering plans for a showdown with Miocic in New York City last year, “Bones” will make his return for a contest that many are expecting to be his last.
The common consensus appears to be that Jones will get past an aging Miocic who hasn’t competed since falling via knockout to Francis Ngannou in 2021 before hanging up his gloves. Miocic has heard that script and promised something different, vowing to shock the world with his performance.
Nickal, though, doesn’t appear convinced.
During a recent interview with former UFC and ONE Championship titleholder Demetrious Johnson, Nickal backed Jones to get the job done at MSG owing to the wide-ranging “tools” in his arsenal.
He did, however, highlight a potential path to victory for Miocic.
“First of, I love both those guys. They’re awesome, amazing competitors,” Nickal said. “If I had to pick who’s going to win the fight, I would say Jon, just because the long layoff for Stipe. And when I look at Jon’s tools, he’s just got such a diverse ray of attacks — offense and defense.
“I think if this fight were to go Stipe’s way, he would probably have to get Jon tired. But I think that Jon is just so savvy in there,” Nickal continued. “I would say the two smartest guys that I’ve seen fight are probably you (Johnson) and him, guys that I really respect their intelligence and their mind. I think a lot of people don’t talk about that in MMA…the most underrated part of Jon’s game.”
Jones will look to prove Nickal’s prediction right come fight night next weekend, when he headlines a pay-per-view card that also features a highly anticipated rematch between former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler.
Elsewhere on the lineup, Nickal himself returns to action opposite Paul Craig and middleweight great Chris Weidman looks to make it two wins from two in 2024 when he faces former American football linebacker Eryk Anders.
