Bo Nickal Says He And Opponent Reinier De Ridder Could Beat Most Of Top 15

Bo Nickal says he'll face the toughest test of his still-young MMA career Saturday when he steps into the Octagon vs. Reinier De Ridder ... a former 2-division world champ in ONE!

The 29-year-old 3x NCAA wrestling champ and undefeated MMA fighter is set to scrap with 34-year-old RDR ... and despite being the 13th-ranked Middleweight, Nickal says Ridder is actually underrated.

"I think that both of us would beat most of the top 15, and I think that this fight is way more than an unranked guy fighting number 13," Bo told TMZ Sports. "Whoever wins this fight will have a really nice path to challenging for the title and fighting the best guys in the world."

Nickal added ... "I'm looking forward to it and just very grateful that he accepted the fight."

Of course, Bo is 7-0 (5-0 in the UFC) ... where he's won all his fights except one by submission or knockout. Nickal last defeated Paul Craig. As for Ridder, the former ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champ, is 19-2 as a professional ... and 2-0 in the UFC. He last beat Kevin Holland.

We also asked Bo about his polarizing status among MMA fans -- who seem to either love or hate him -- with the haters accusing him of failing to live up to expectations ... which Bo says, thanks to his experience, doesn't bother him.

"I just stay grounded, knowing who I am and what I'm about. Had I been thrown into MMA as a 20-year-old kid or a much younger guy, that would've been a big struggle for me."

He continued ... "But going through five college seasons and experiencing everything I did there, and really being a seasoned competitor, although not in MMA, I think that really prepared me for these moments and for the pressure."

After Bo and Reinier fight, there's also a huge bantamweight fight on the books, the main event featuring #4 ranked Cory Sandhagen and #5 ranked Deiveson Figueiredo.

33-year-old Sandhagen, 17-5, is coming off a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August 2024 ... and Cory's guaranteed he's going to beat the brakes off of the former 125-pound champ.

"I'm going to go out there and perform my ass off," Sandhagen said. "It's going to be the best 25 minutes that you've ever seen from Cory Sandhagen. I'm going to whoop Figgy's ass. And it's nothing personal against Figgy. I'll whoop anyone's ass on Saturday, regardless of who it is."

Cory says he plans to make a statement Saturday and put himself squarely in line to fight the winner of Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley -- for the title.

"The entire UFC fan base and world wants to watch me and O'Malley fight, and then I'm the only guy that hasn't fought Merab in the top five and lost to him," he said.