Ever striving to improve, Bo Nickal has given Team Khabib their flowers following his winning performance at RAF Moscow.
Looking to bounce back from a losing effort in his opening match on the RAF stage, Nickal welcomed a meeting with Shirvani Gadzhikurbanovich Muradov. A training partner and friend of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Muradov is a highly decorated Russian freestyle wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. Despite being many years away from his prime, the 41-year-old is no slouch and a tough test for any credentialed wrestler.
Having to grind out a win, Bo Nickal secured an 11-8 decision victory against the crafty veteran. In the aftermath, Nickal was nothing but complimentary of Muradov, thanking the legend for pushing him to his limits.
“Yeah, Khabib Team coach. I have great respect for Shirvani,” Nickal said. “I think he’s, you know, an amazing competitor and Olympic gold medalist. So, you don’t get better than that in wrestling. So, I was grateful to compete against him, and he brought me a tough competition. It’s making me better, and I’m grateful for that.”
A student of the wrestling game, Bo Nickal often shows love to others who share his passion for the sport.
Khabib Nurmagomedov remains one man the NCAA Division I All-American is in awe of. Claiming to have watched all of his fights, Nickal has been studying the MMA icon in hopes of improving his own game.
“For me, I think that I like to compete against the best,” Nickal continued. “You know, I like wrestling really tough competition. I like to fight against tough guys. All of Khabib’s team, all tough guys.”
“I think this is great. They’re great for the sport. Khabib, I have a lot of respect for. I watch all of his fights. [I] study him, try to use some of his techniques for my own. And yeah, all respect.”
Bo Nickal says he has a lot of respect for Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team, adding that he enjoys testing himself against the best competition and even studies Khabib’s fights to learn from his techniques.
“I like to compete against the best. I like wrestling and really tough… pic.twitter.com/qJpBWG4pqX
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) September 5, 2026