UFC middleweight contender Bo Nickal entered the Octagon at UFC Des Moines with some doubts.
Bo Nickal‘s first UFC loss came at the hands and knees of Reinier de Ridder in the UFC Des Moines co-main event last Saturday. In a stunning defeat, Nickal lost to de Ridder by second-round TKO after de Ridder landed a brutal knee to the liver that collapsed the star prospect.
After entering his previous UFC fights as massive favorites, Nickal’s favorability wasn’t as prominent heading into UFC Des Moines. De Ridder, a former two-division ONE champion, remains unbeaten in his UFC tenure with wins over the likes of Kevin Holland and Gerald Meerschaert.
Despite Nickal’s supreme confidence in pre-fight interviews, the former NCAA Division I wrestling national champion felt some apprehension entering UFC Des Moines.
Bo Nickal was brutally honest with himself ahead of UFC Des Moines defeat
Before falling to de Ridder, Nickal was heavily criticized for his performance in a lackluster fight against Paul Craig at UFC 309. While Nickal won the fight by unanimous decision, many fans booed him at Madison Square Garden for a less-than-thrilling showcase in the Octagon.
Just a handful of fights into his MMA career, Nickal surprisingly felt the weight of de Ridder’s experience entering UFC Des Moines.
During a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Nickal was asked if he overlooked de Ridder entering UFC Des Moines and was brutally honest on how he thought the fight might play out.
“Absolutely not,” Nickal said. “I don’t feel that I looked at RDR as somebody I was going to blow through, I looked at that as a really big test and a really big challenge. And of course I’m confident, nobody in my situation or in this sport…we’re all confident guys, so knowing the danger of the fight going in, I definitely felt like there was a chance for me to have weaknesses in my game exposed, and that’s exactly what happened.
“I wasn’t really afraid of that going in…being in certain situations and not realizing that I’m in danger, it just comes with experience. So that’s an experience that I’m going to be grateful for in the long run. He fought his fight, and I fought his fight too, so that’s something that moving forward in the future I’m going to learn not to do. Overall, I’m grateful for the lesson.”
Nickal fought just once outside the UFC before getting the call to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022. After a dominant win in his first DWCS fight, UFC CEO Dana White offered Nickal a second bout to garner more experience, expressing some concerns over Nickal’s lack of cage time.
White’s past concerns came to fruition at UFC Des Moines, as de Ridder outclassed Nickal in all aspects of the fight. Unlike some of his other fights, Nickal wasn’t able to showcase his elite wrestling against de Ridder, who possesses a dangerous ground game.
Reinier de Ridder predicted big things coming for Bo Nickal after UFC Des Moines
Despite Nickal’s stunning setback at UFC Des Moines, Nickal received a surprising endorsement after his first MMA loss. De Ridder, in a recent post-fight interview, praised Nickal as a ‘f—— killer’ who will be one of the middleweight division’s top contenders after a few years of cage experience.
As for de Ridder’s UFC future, he called out former titleholder Sean Strickland immediately after UFC Des Moines. Strickland hasn’t responded to de Ridder’s callout, as the former champion plots his comeback after falling to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 earlier this year.
Calls of ‘fraud check’ and other labels are raining down upon Nickal after UFC Des Moines. But despite the disappointing loss, Nickal still has plenty of time and potential to eventually become a Top 15-caliber middleweight fighter.
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