It took Jones 2 years and 11 months after turning pro to win the title. Nickal has dreams of becoming the next Jones level fighter who rips through the competition and grabs the title as fast as possible per his post-fight interview with Sanko last night.
Even in a smaller talent pool like Bellator we just watched wrestlers like Pico and Ed Ruth fail to have that sort of dominant run through everyone. After years of work and dedication though, Pico is on the cusp of a title shot and a win over Kennedy on Oct 1st should mean we see him challenge the winner of Pitbull vs Borics for the title. I’m by no means saying Nickal has or will ever have Pico’s hands. Just talking about the unpredictable nature of how things go for elite athletes when they enter MMA.
Anyway, back to Nickal vs Chimaev. Chimaev turned pro four years ago and has now been in the UFC for two years. Will likely get a crack at the WW title in early 2023 after he destroys Diaz in Oct.
Up at MW: After going 2-1 in 2015/2016 in his first three MMA fights, Alex Pereira returned to MMA and entered the UFC in 2020 and its only taken him two years as a fulltime MMA fighter to get a crack at the UFC title. Adesanya spent 7 years in MMA before he was able to grab the UFC title.
Anyway, lets see how it goes but Chimaev vs Nickal for the title would not be a shocking MW title fight by the end of next year or in 2024. Anyway, Nickal and Alex Pereira just breathed a little life into the MW division that was feeling a little stale. Andre Muniz has as well. He just submitted Jacare last year and is now 7-0 in the UFC.
MW was getting boring with Adesanya, Brunson, Gastelum, Whittaker etc…
Anyway thats my prediction, Chimaev will defend the MW title vs Nickal within the next couple years.