Bo Nickal's wife Maddie Holmberg is also from an athletic background. Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Holmberg was an elite track and field athlete at Penn State University where she met Nickal.

Daughter of former Penn State and NFL linebacker Rob Holmberg, Maddie was a three-time first-team All-American in track and field and a Big Ten champion in both the heptathlon and pentathlon during her time at Penn State. Meanwhile, Nickal won three NCAA Division 1 championships in wrestling along with the prestigious Hodge trophy.

Bo Nickal made his sophomore UFC appearance against short-notice replacement Val Woodburn at UFC 290 tonight. The Penn State standout scored yet another first-round KO, knocking his opponent out cold in just 38 seconds.

Nickal expressed his love towards his wife in the post-fight interview and also announced her pregnancy. The 27-year-old said:

"Madeline Nickal I love you so much. I'm a husband, I'm also going to be a father soon, my wide is pregnant. And it's really cool to knock people out in the octagon, I just did to, it's really cool. But it's even cooler to be a good husband and a good dad. And that's what's most important to me in life."

Catch Nickal's comments below:

Maddie Holmberg initially wanted Bo Nickal to quit MMA

Maddie Holmberg and Bo Nickal were both majoring in kinesiology when they met in class in 2016. While they would hang around the same group of people, the spark came only when they were put in a group project together.

Nickal fell for Maddie, proposed on New Year's Day 2020, and got married by the end of that year. While Holmberg had a fair idea of Nickal's dominance in college wrestling, she could not fathom MMA as a sport. The Penn State track and field star said in a previous interview with Nittany Sports Now:

"This is insane [after watching a MMA fight on TV]. I cannot believe that he wants to do this. I hope that if we stay together that he changes his mind.”

However, after watching her husband compete in his first two amateur bouts, Maddie Holmberg gradually learned to appreciate the nuances of the sport. She added:

“It’s not a malicious thing. It’s really just a sport, and it’s about challenging yourself. Bo’s very smart, and he sees it really as just a puzzle.”

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