Kyle Daukaus eyes ‘dominant’ win over Bo Nickal at UFC White House: ‘They will know who I am’

Kyle Daukaus admits he was surprised he got onto the White House card.

Daukaus is set to take on Bo Nickal in an intriguing middleweight fight. As Daukaus was scheduled to fight Vicente Luque, he got a call from his manager asking to go on a three-way call with Hunter Campbell, which caught him by surprise.

“I had a missed call from my manager, and I felt like it was either good or bad,” Daukaus said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “When he answered the phone, he said Hunter Campbell wanted to have a three-way phone call with me. I spoke to Hunter, and he just said we are going to put you on the White House card, and you are going to fight Bo Nickal. At that time, I was scheduled to fight Luque, and he said he’d take me off that card and put me on the White House card.”

Once the fight was announced, Daukaus saw the reactions and agreed with many that he was surprised to be on the card. He also thought the UFC would give Bo Nickal a set-up fight for an easy win, given his relationship with Donald Trump.

“Being on the card for me, who I am, is surprising. I think they like the story that I have, of being cut and my resurgence since being back. That is what I want my story to be,” Nickal said. “I was surprised that I am on the card myself. I figured Bo would be on it, but I thought they’d give him someone he could run through.”

Kyle Daukaus is confident ahead of White House fight

Although Daukaus enters UFC White House as the underdog, he has full confidence in himself.

Daukaus believes he’s the better striker and also has the better jiu-jitsu. However, Daukaus knows Nickal’s wrestling is legit, but he believes he can cause some problems off his back if he does get taken down.

“Bo doesn’t have super technical jiu-jitsu; he’s a very good wrestler,” Daukaus said. “Yeah, I’m not opposed to getting on the ground. I’m looking at this fight similarly to Chimaev vs. Strickland. I may have to give up the first round, and in the second round, I will implement my game plan. We are training for a high-paced three-round fight.”

If Daukaus gets his hand raised and upsets Nickal, he believes he will prove to the middleweight division he’s a serious contender. And he hopes it can earn him a rematch against Brendan Allen.

“I feel like the winner of this will get a top-10 guy. I’m here to focus on this fight. Once I beat him and beat him in dominant fashion, they will know who I am in the division. I have a loss against Brendan Allen. I would love to get that back,” Daukaus concluded.

Do you think Kyle Daukaus will beat Bo Nickal at the White House?