Rodolfo Vieira likes future Bo Nickal fight, but fully focused on UFC Vegas 102

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Rodolfo Vieira | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A middleweight clash between Rodolfo Vieira and Bo Nickal would be a delight for grappling aficionados in the UFC, putting in the cage a multi-time jiu-jitsu world champion and a three-time NCAA Division I champion.

“The Black Belt Hunter” isn’t against it.

Vieira returns to action Saturday at UFC Vegas 102 to battle Andre Petroski a year after his most recent octagon appearance—a first-round submission over Armen Petrosyan—and said he won’t think of anything past Petroski at this moment. However, the fact he was offered a UFC bout with Nickal in 2024 keeps that idea in the air.

“It’s a very big fight,” Vieira said of possibly facing the undefeated MMA talent. “But everybody asks me what are my plans for after the fight and I don’t like to answer because I prefer to win this fight and then see what I’m going to do. We don’t know if we’ll win or if we’ll lose. Of course, everybody wants to win, everybody prepares to win, but I like to take one step at a time. After my fight, if all goes right and I win, then I’ll see with my team and my manager.”

UFC wanted Vieira vs. Nickal for UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden, but Vieira still wasn’t medically cleared to punch with his right hand when offered the bout. The Brazilian ace had a wrist injury going into his clash with Petrosyan in February and it only got worse after. Vieira eventually had to undergo surgery in April after experiencing “unbearable pain” due to a ligament tear.

Vieira entered the mat to compete in November, making short work of Derek Brunson in a grappling contest at ADXC in Brazil.

“I wasn’t throwing punches yet when they offered me Bo Nickal, I was only using my left hand,” Vieira said. “I was like, I won’t take such a tough fight not being able to punch. I won’t do that mistake, right? It was the best decision.”

Although he won’t discuss facing Nickal without getting the job done first this weekend in Las Vegas, Vieira admits it would be a “very interesting” fight.

“He’s quite good, and he’s evolving a lot on the striking as well,” Vieira said. “He has high-level wrestling, no need to say. His jiu-jitsu is very good, too. I had the opportunity to train with him. In fact, he helped me in a camp when he was in Orlando. He’s a super nice guy, very helpful. I trained with him for two days, if I’m not mistaken. He has good level in jiu-jitsu, too. People don’t know that, they think he only has good wrestling, but he really has great jiu-jitsu.”

Vieira’s original opponent for UFC Vegas 102 was Jacob Malkoun, who was eventually replaced by Petroski. Vieira said that forced him to change things in training to adapt for a southpaw with “crazy” striking, but he had plenty of time to adjust. A five-time jiu-jitsu world champion and ADCC gold medalist, Vieira doesn’t see Petroski’s grappling being good enough to threaten him with submissions but “he has good takedowns and good control from top position, so I have to be smart in this fight.”

“[Submitting] is always plan A, but I won’t insist on taking him down because it’s kind of a difficult fight,” Vieira said. “He’s hard to read because you don’t know if he’ll stand and trade or want to take you down. I had to work hard. I usually only do stand-up and takedowns in camp, using my jiu-jitsu. This time I had to train a lot of takedowns, attacks and defense, and defense on the ground, because I can’t expect that he won’t take me down. I did a complete work for this time and evolved in many areas.”

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