This article is part of our Craig Jones Invitational 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
Three-time NCAA wrestling champion Bo Nickal has just been asked about the Craig Jones Invitational and somewhat surprisingly, he actually seems very interested in the idea. While Nickal was one of the most successful wrestlers in the history of the sport in the US, he decided to make the transition to MMA after falling just short of making it to the Olympics in 2020. He was always going to be a top prospect in the sport given his incredibly high level of wrestling, but he’s been able to deliver on that promise incredibly quickly by rising up the ranks of the regional MMA circuit and earning a UFC contract inside his first year as a professional.
Nickal has worked heavily on bringing his striking to a good enough level to complement his wrestling, but he’s also developed some fantastic submission grappling skills as well. He’s even earned draws against some of the best grapplers in the sport at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 2, and famously challenged Gordon Ryan in a hybrid-rules match as well. He’s also gone on a tear since signing for the UFC by winning all three of his fights there and maintaining his record of finishing every opponent, including his most recent submission win at UFC 300.
It’s no surprise then that Bo Nickal was confident about the idea of competing against the best grapplers in the world again at the Craig Jones Invitational when asked about it, and the fact that there’s a million dollars on the line clearly makes it appealing to him:
“Get me in there. I think I can make 80 kilos. That’s a lot of money… They probably didn’t have to go that hard, they probably could have done like $100,000. A million dollars? That’s a lot of money bro. I feel like every single guy should try to go to that tournament as long as you have a legitimate chance to win, which… There’s a lot of guys that probably believe they do.”
Betr Combat uploaded the clip of their interview with Bo Nickal where he discusses the possibility of competing in the Craig Jones Invitational in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
