Khamzat Chimaev offers high praise for Bo Nickal, claims he can beat Alex Pereira within 1 round

Rising UFC star Khamzat Chimaev recently offered high praise for Bo Nickal, an upcoming middleweight contender. Chimaev even went as far as claiming that Nickal could defeat current UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira in just one round.

According to Chimaev, Nickal's impressive wrestling skills would give him a significant advantage over Alex Pereira in the octagon. Chimaev's comments have sparked a great deal of interest and speculation within the MMA community, with fans eagerly anticipating the possibility of a future match-up between Nickal and Pereira.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, 'Borz' expressed his admiration for Bo Nickal, a well-known contender from Dana White's Contender Series. Khamzat Chimaev has highly praised Nickal's impressive wrestling skills, and he also commended the 26-year-old's dedication to his training regimen.

The Chechnya native stated:

"I know he can win against [Alex]Pereira as well. I swear, if they put him against Pereira, I'm 100% sure that, that guy wins the fight."

Check out the entire conversation bewteen Khamzat Chimaev and Ariel Helwani here:

Since making his professional debut in June last year, the NCAA Division I wrestler has made waves in the sport, winning each of his fights and displaying his talent in other aspects of MMA. Jorge Masvidal's iKon FC provided the prodigy with a platform to develop on, which he seized with both hands.

---

Colby Covington claims he was never offered to fight Khamzat Chimaev

Rumors of a potential matchup between Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev have been circulating for months, but in a recent statement, Covington denied that the fight was ever officially offered to him. Despite the UFC's interest in the bout, Covington claims that he was never formally presented with the opportunity to face off against Chimaev. The news has left many fans disappointed, as the prospect of a Covington-Chimaev showdown has generated a great deal of excitement and anticipation within the MMA community.

Colby Covington, who had previously expressed eagerness to face Chimaev and "derail that hype train," now appears to have put the matter to rest. 'Chaos' expressed his disappointment with Chimaev's lack of professionalism and called him a clown. The 35-year-old fighter made it clear that he no longer has any interest in pursuing a match against 'Borz', and has moved on to other priorities in his career. He stated:

"[The bout] was never formally presented to me. We talked about it. It was the fight that I wanted. I wanted to derail that hype train... I was begging to fight that. I was chomping at the bit, but we saw how unprofessional he was... The guy’s a clown, I don’t want to ever hear that guy’s name in this division again. Let that dog-faced motherf*cker rot in 185.”

Check out the former interim welterweight champion's comments on the Swedish mixed martial artist: