6ft 5in middleweight calls out Bo Nickal after surviving headbutt knockdown to win at UFC Vegas 106

The story of Nursulton Ruziboev vs Dustin Stoltzfus

Nursulton Ruziboev hit the deck heavy early in round one. Dustin Stoltzfus followed him to the floor and began squeezing for a guillotine choke, which the UFC commentators thought was very tight.

Once Ruziboev eventually popped out of the submission and worked his way back to his feet, it was pointed out that he was knocked down by an inadvertent headbutt.

The 185lb giant managed to turn the tide at the end of round one as he put together striking attacks that had his opponent looking a little bit uncomfortable.

It was a grappling-heavy second stanza. Both men had their moments, but Ruziboev probably took it on the scorecards as he was more effective with his ground-and-pound.

The pace slowed in round three, but Ruziboev and Stoltzfus still managed to slug it out.

Ruziboev landed the bigger shots before getting taken down to the floor after three minutes.

Stoltzfus enjoyed a minute of top control before his opponent popped up as he tried to lock up a D’arce choke.

Ruziboev had just enough time to land one more big shot before the final bell.

Bo Nickal called out

Bo Nickal recently suffered the first defeat of his MMA career against Reinier de Ridder.

Ruziboev wants the chance to make it two losses in a row for the 7-1 middleweight prospect.

“Bo Nickal, that’s who he wants next,” a translator told Michael Bisping during Ruziboev’s post-fight interview.

Now, it’s just a matter of waiting to see if Nickal is interested in facing the 6ft 5in giant.