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The Bo Nickal era began as the oddsmakers expected it would on Saturday with a dominant first-round submission.
Nickal (4-0), a three-time Division I national champion wrestler at Penn State, needed just under three minutes to produce a tap in his first UFC bout, submitting Jamie Pickett via arm-triangle choke to kick off the UFC 285 pay-per-view card inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
An injury last fall postponed Nickal's December promotional debut, just months after scoring a pair of victories on the Dana White Contender Series to secure a UFC contract. The delay only helped in creating more buzz for his first UFC fight, becoming one of the most anticipated Octagon debuts in recent memory, and the 27-year-old native of Colorado didn't disappoint in terms of the expected one-sided dominance as a heavy favorite.
Nickal slipped in the opening seconds after missing a wild high kick attempt, but he met Pickett (13-9) in the clinch and proceeded to take him down with a front headlock. After quickly taking Pickett's back, Nickal struggled to secure a choke but took his time -- twice switching up his grip -- before getting the tap at 2:54 of the opening round.
"I feel at home. I've been training my whole life for this," Nickal said. "I feel like I was born, bred and I train everyday to come out here and dominate and that's what I did."
Nickal, who also captured the Dan Hodge Trophy at Penn State in 2019 as the nation's most outstanding collegiate wrestler (while also securing Big Ten Athlete of the Year honors), showed an incredible mix of confidence and advanced technique despite only making a full-time transition to MMA in late 2021.
"For me, I'm 4-0 and 27, I'm young," Nickal said. "I've been doing MMA for a year and a half and I'm in the main card on a UFC pay-per-view. That's crazy as hell."
Pickett, 34, lost for the third straight time and fell to 2-5 overall since making his UFC debut in 2020.
