Bo Dean Nickal (born January 14, 1996) is an American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle and graduated folkstyle wrestler who currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

[10][11] Nickal was born in Rifle, Colorado, but moved to Wyoming at a young age, where he started wrestling around five or six years old.

Nickal made the varsity high school team while in eighth grade and placed second at the New Mexico state tournament that same season.

[19] Nickal opted to compete under a redshirt during his first collegiate year, compiling a 15–2 record in open tournaments while wrestling unattached at 174 pounds.

[20] Entering his freshman season ranked fourteenth in the country, Nickal won his first eighteen matches, claiming titles from the Nittany Lion Open[21] and the Southern Scuffle[22] and notable victories over returning NCAA runner-up Brian Realbuto, multiple DI All-Americans in Zach Epperly, Bryce Hammond and Ethan Ramos, and future NCAA champion Myles Martin.

[27] At the Big Ten Conference Championships, Nickal claimed three bonus point-victories, including a fall over Martin and a major over Zac Brunson in the finale.

[28][29] Nickal entered the NCAA's as the top-seed, defeating his first three opponents to make the semifinals, where he avenged his regular season loss to Nate Jackson on points, advancing to the finals.

[34] During his unbeaten regular season, Nickal pinned his way to the Keystone Classic title[35] and went 14–0 in dual meets, dominantly avenging his NCAA championship loss to Myles Martin, and also including wins over returning NCAA runner-up TJ Dudley and returning All-Americans Sammy Brooks and Nolan Boyd (both by fall).

[3] At the Big Ten Championships, Nickal claimed his second title by beating Martin in the finale, advancing to the NCAAs as the favorite top–seed.

[45] At the National tournament, he earned notable wins over '16 MAC champion Jordan Ellingwood, freshman phenom from Cornell Max Dean and Michigan's Domenic Abounader to make the finale, where he scored one of his signature pins in his career over Myles Martin, ending the rivalry, claiming his second NCAA title and clinching the team title for PSU.

[53] Going back to the style after two years, Nickal competed at the US Open, bulking up to 92 kilograms instead of going down to 86 kilos due to teammate David Taylor being the returning World Champion in the weight class.

[59][60] As a 23-year old Final X contestant, Nickal had the right to compete at the US U23 World Team Trials against the Challenge Tournament winner, Jakob Woodley.

[61][59] By the start of 2020, Nickal moved up to 97 kilograms in an attempt to take out reigning Olympic Gold medalist Kyle Snyder.

[66] As a champion at a non-olympic weight, Nickal was supposed to decide whether he was going to compete at 86 or 97 kilograms, but this decision never became public as the events were postponed.

[68] Nickal returned to the mats against Alex Dieringer on September 19, at the NLWC I, making his debut at 86 kilograms since completely crossing over.

[69] Dieringer scored the first point via push-out early in the first period, however, he was put on the shot-clock due to passivity with 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the match.

[70][71] Nickal was later scheduled to wrestle 2020 US National runner-up Nate Jackson on November 24, at the NLWC III,[72] but was removed from the card a day before the event.

[73] After a somewhat inactive previous year, Nickal wrestled two-time NCAA Division I National Champion Gabe Dean in a rematch from their 2017 NCAA championship match, on February 23, at the NLWC V.[74] After a scramble-full match, Nickal was defeated by Dean in a close bout.

[77][78] In the best–of–three finals, Nickal faced fellow Penn State legend and '18 World Champion David Taylor.

[82] It was also announced that Nickal had serious plans on partnering with Dan Lambert and opening a new American Top Team facility at Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania.

[84][85] After the 2020 US Olympic Trials for wrestling, Nickal made his amateur mixed martial arts debut against David Conley on September 24, 2021, winning via arm-triangle choke submission in round one.

[89] For his second professional match, Nickal faced Zachary Borrego on August 9, 2022, at Dana White's Contender Series 49.

[110] Nickal represented iKon FC in a team grappling tournament at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 2 on July 3, 2022.