While Bo Nickal clearly has areas for improvement, his recent loss to Reinier de Ridder shouldn`t lead to him being labeled an overhyped prospect who didn`t warrant the initial attention he received.
This is the perspective of UFC veteran Matt Brown, who expressed frustration with the commentary surrounding Nickal following his first career defeat last Saturday night at UFC Des Moines. Nickal suffered a second-round finish via a powerful body shot from the significantly more experienced de Ridder. After starting his professional journey with a perfect 7-0 record, Nickal tasted defeat for the first time, struggling throughout the fight against his seasoned opponent.
“It really frustrated me and almost upset me hearing all these people say ‘fraud check,’” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I’m sure you’ve seen this. I’m like, get the f*ck out of here.”
Brown continued, acknowledging de Ridder`s performance: “Give credit where credit is due: de Ridder looked f*cking awesome. He looked great. He looked like a two-weight world champion coming from ONE should look like. He looked like a guy that has a bright future and has a lot of big things to do. Bo Nickal looked like a guy fighting a two-weight world champion he was just not ready for yet. That’s the downside of a guy like Bo Nickal coming into the UFC with very little experience and being tossed to the wolves. He’s had some somewhat favorable matchups before, not totally favorable, but matchups that were very winnable. De Ridder, we finally found out where Bo Nickal needs to improve. He’s not a fraud at all. The motherf*cker’s going to be a top five guy in the future, I can almost guarantee it.”
Brown feels that criticizing Nickal solely for his performance overlooks de Ridder`s effective strategy and execution in securing the win.
Although renowned for his world-class grappling, de Ridder has diligently worked on developing his striking. He demonstrated this by repeatedly targeting Nickal`s body during the fight. This dedication paid off in the second round when a knee to the midsection finished the bout, ending the undefeated streak of the three-time NCAA National Champion wrestler.
“Reinier de Ridder is a great f*cking fighter,” Brown stated. “He’s had the experience advantage. He knows how to fight. Bo Nickal is learning how to fight. Bo Nickal knows how to wrestle like a motherf*cker. If this was a wrestling match, Bo NIckal tech falls him or pins him within a period most likely. But de Ridder is well-rounded, and I think that’s what showed the most was you saw the transitions from one thing to another, one art to another, and you saw a guy that knew how to handle every position.
“Whereas Bo Nickal, if you want to say exposed or anything, it exposed that he is still a rookie. He is still a beginner in this sport. He still has a ways to go.”
It could be argued that Nickal himself contributed to the scrutiny by making ambitious statements about his future before fully establishing himself against top competition.
Quotes from past interviews surfaced immediately after the fight, where Nickal had discussed beating Khamzat Chimaev and suggested de Ridder would seek grappling to avoid a stand-up knockout. These comments unfortunately resurfaced and were highlighted following his loss.
However, Brown believes Nickal was largely reacting to the high expectations placed upon him after transitioning from wrestling to MMA. Furthermore, Brown suggests that this loss to de Ridder, early in his career, could ultimately be more beneficial than accumulating additional wins.
Brown reiterated his stance, saying, “Bo Nickal, stop with the fraud check bullshit. Stop with he was exposed or overrated or overhyped, the hype train ended, all this bullshit. Bo Nickal, if he wants to, he will be back and he will be top five.”
He concluded, “That really frustrated me when people say that shit, and I think that a lot of people do it for headlines, just to get people reading their things, for people to respond or whatever. But the fact is, Bo Nickal’s hype is truthful, and I believe it’s going to come to fruition if he sticks at it. I think this might be the best thing to happen to him, to be honest … maybe he fell into the hype train himself. Maybe he wasn’t pushing himself. Maybe he wasn’t putting himself in bad positions as much as he could have. This might be the best thing to happen to him.”
