Bo Nickal is keeping receipts after suffering the first defeat of his pro career this past weekend.
At UFC Des Moines, Nickal was stopped by Reinier de Ridder in the co-main event after the undefeated prospect was forced to answer some questions that he hasn’t been posed inside the Octagon before.
The decorated wrestler has been a controversial figure ever since he arrived in the UFC with de Ridder receiving a huge amount of support ahead of this fight.
With the American being one of the most talked about fighters in the middleweight division, the reaction to his first defeat brought a lot of criticism Nickal’s way.
When reflecting on the fight, the 29-year-old stated that he’ll remember everyone who counted him out so that he can return the favor when he reaches the top.
Bo Nickal plans to use all of the criticism from his first loss as ammunition when he reaches the top
In the latest episode of his Nickals and Dimes podcast, Bo Nickal spoke in detail about his first loss inside the Octagon and everything that happened both before and after May 3.
A lot of fans were happy to see him taste defeat after the surging contender had received a substantial push from the UFC which saw him feature in some big spotlights.
Fellow fighters were specifically critical of the way that Nickal responded to adversity for the first time having been stopped by the strikes of a submission specialist.
The former Pennsylvania State University representative said that he’s keeping all of these comments in the back of his mind so that he can remind his doubters of what they said once he achieves success.
Nickal believes that this setback will serve as an invaluable learning experience that he can then use as a reminder to show who really stuck by him through thick and thin.
“Suck my d—. At the end of the day, say what you want. But when I get back on top and I’m the freaking champion of the world, you all will come crawling back. They always do, and I’ll spit right in your face.
“As soon as you crawl back and [say], ‘Bo come give me an interview.’ Where were you?… Every single one of you that says a bad thing, I have the memory of an elephant.”
The criticism of Bo Nickal has been blown way out of proportion
At UFC Des Moines, we did see some flaws from Bo Nickal that haven’t previously been exposed inside the Octagon.
The wrestler didn’t respond well to taking actual damage from an opponent that offered legitimate offense but, you have to remember that he’s fighting a top 15 opponent in just his eighth pro fight having only signed to the UFC in March of 2023.
Nickal is still learning on the job and this fight showed that he still needs to accumulate a lot more experience before he’s ready to fight the top guys in the division.
The UFC’s decision to consistently put him in the spotlight has led to this huge reaction from the fans after he didn’t turn out to be this unbeatable monster at 185 pounds.
Nickal’s own comments didn’t help this but if you ask any fighter if they think they’re the best in the world, you’re going to get a lot of the same responses.