MMA veterans Michael Bisping and Bo Nickal got together for a friendly grappling round recently; trying to submit each other whole still laughing and joking. The two fighters came together for a recent episode of the Jaxxon podcast and started to mess around in the cage. Although they’ve both reached the peak of their fame in the UFC, they were both excellent grapplers long before that. Bisping was a talented young competitor on the UK Jiu-Jitsu circuit before focusing exclusively on MMA, but Nickal competed at a whole other level really as a three-time NCAA Division I champion in wrestling.
This difference can be seen in their respective MMA careers as well; as the two men have a completely different approach to grappling. Bisping was excellent on the ground but was ultimately a well-rounded fighter and he never really chased the submission, preferring instead to finish the fight with strikes. Nickal on the other hand is a wrestler through and through; developing his striking skills while actively fighting at the highest level. This is how Nickal has already managed to register more submission finishes than Bisping did in his entire career, despite having less than a quarter of as many professional fights at the time of writing.
They also come from completely different generations too; with Bisping being 16 years older than Nickal. By the time Nickal first stepped into the cage for his amateur debut in 2021, Bisping had already been retired for almost 4 years. While Nickal is now busy working his way towards a title-shot at middleweight, Bisping is on the sidelines commentating on fights with a unique insight as the former champion of that division. All this to say that although Nickal would obviously have a huge advantage in a proper grappling match, he could undoubtedly still a learn a lot from a veteran like Bisping.
Bear Degidio shared the footage of Michael Bisping and Bo Nickal grappling together in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
