Bo Nickal is no longer an undefeated blue chip prospect in the UFC.
This Saturday at UFC Des Moines, Bo Nickal was once again hopeful of proving he is more than just a wrestler when he took on Reinier De Ridder.
Ahead of their clash, Nickal worried fans with updates regarding his weight just a week out from the fight, claiming that he was going to be cutting a substantial amount of weight.
Fortunately, though, the decorated college wrestler made weight this past Friday, and the two middleweights threw down in Des Moines.
Bo Nickal suffers shock loss at UFC Des Moines
The fight began with De Ridder looking to put on forward pressure by putting the undefeated Nickal on the back foot. Despite that, Nickal did well to reverse the position early on and control the Dutch fighter against the cage.
Around halfway through the round, the dominant wrestler scored his first takedown of the fight and began reigning down some heavy ground-and-pound on De Ridder.
He then attempted to latch onto a guillotine choke but De Ridder did a good job of reversing the attempt and ending up on top of Nickal. Unable to secure a submission, the two ended up back to their feet where De Ridder finished the round landing a few strikes on Nickal.
Again in round two, De Ridder attempted to put forward pressure on Nickal by getting him up against the cage and locked into a body lock. With Nickal continuing to put himself against the cage, De Ridder attempted to land a knee up the middle, which didn’t land flush.
And then, with Nickal retreating again, the Dutchman landed another knee up the middle, this time landing flush to the body of Nickal, sinking him to the ground and finishing the fight.
Reinier De Ridder calls out Sean Strickland
With the former ONE Championship title holder already ranked inside the top 15 of the UFC middleweight division, he is only a few wins away now from putting himself into title contention.
Following his huge upset win over Nickal, De Ridder called for a fight against former champion, Sean Strickland, stating he now wants to fight the best ‘American striker’ after fighting the best wrestler.
With Strickland coming off a loss to Dricus Du Plessis, it could be a fight that makes sense for ‘Tarzan’ next.