Revenge! (sort of)
Seventeen days have passed since surging Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contender Reinier de Ridder halted super-prospect Bo Nickal with a devastating knee in the second round of their UFC Des Moines co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa (watch highlights).
Since the upset, fans have “slaughtered” Nickal, branding him a fraud, while fighters like Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis have piled on with jabs.
One entity, however, bided its time for two weeks before landing a sly dig: Iowa Wrestling.
The powerhouse college program, long at odds with Nickal from his wrestling days, sent de Ridder a care package stuffed with Hawkeye gear, amusingly, “RDR” said he expected it.
Check out the care package below:
As a proud Penn State wrestler, Nickal’s rivalry with the University of Iowa runs deep, making this troll job sting—though likely less than his first career loss on Iowa soil.
Before the fight, Nickal, who went 3-0 against Iowa in college (pinning every opponent in the first period), claimed he’d win over some UFC Des Moines fans despite his Hawkeye enmity. But when “RDR” sported an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt during fight week, Iowa fans had their hero.
For now, the University of Iowa has got the last laugh … I guess.
