Bo Nickal suffered the first loss of his career this past weekend in his fight against Reinier de Ridder, and his head coach knows exactly what went wrong.
The three-time NCAA Division I National Champion wrestler from Penn State has been one of the most hyped prospects to come to MMA in quite some time, and he started his career with a perfect 7-0 record including six straight finishes. Unfortunately, Nickal’s undefeated run came to a staggering halt at UFC Des Moines after de Ridder started strong against him on the ground in the first round and then blasted him with a fight-ending body shot in the second round.
American Top Team coach Mike Brown, who has been in Nickal’s corner since the beginning of his career, addressed the loss while admitting there were several factors that went into that shocking defeat.
“Was a tough weekend but maybe one that a was needed,” Brown wrote on Instagram. “Things have been moving fast for Bo Nickal and to this point he was been able to make things happen and secure six finishes and seven victories with the limited experience that he has. Bo has all the attributes that you want if your goal is to become a world champion in mixed martial arts. He has athleticism, a strong confident mind set, a great family support system, and he started combat sports (specifically wrestling) at a very young age. These are all the boxes that you want to check when developing an elite MMA fighter.
“But the one thing Bo doesn’t have is live fighting cage time and for this there is no substitution. MMA fight experience is crucial and actual time in the cage is extremely important. As a team we had our concerns about moving so fast and we realize the dangers of fighting such high level opponents so early, but Bo is a unique athlete and the UFC has him on a fast track.”
Nickal was actually a massive favorite going into the fight despite taking on an opponent with more than three times as much experience with an impressive resume after de Ridder was actually a two-division champion in ONE Championship.
From the start of the fight, de Ridder never backed down from pursuing Nickal across the cage and he continuously battered him with strikes, especially to the body, whenever they’d lock up in the clinch.
The repeated body blows also paid off huge when de Ridder saw an opening to unleash a huge knee strike up the middle that blasted Nickal and sent him crashing to the canvas to end the fight.
“This past weekend Bo’s lack of experience showed, his wrestling and athleticism wasn’t enough to overcome what was in front of him,” Brown said. “Reinier de Ridder now 20-2 was a multi-time two division world champion in One FC a very reputable organization. Props to him for coming with a strong game plan and executing what was needed.”
Of course, the moment Nickal suffered a loss, he was immediately bombarded with criticism that the 29-year-old middleweight somehow got “fraud checked” after falling in such lopsided fashion.
Brown was quick to counter that argument with a subtle reminder that Nickal is still very young in his MMA career and this setback can only make him better moving forward.
Losing is never ideal but Brown knows from his years spent in the cage and now as one of the top coaches in the sport that falling down in this sport only gives somebody like Nickal a chance to prove he can get up again.
“This is the fight game and it’s cliche but this is where we learn,” Brown said. “This is where we make changes and where we make the biggest gains. I’m confident that this is going to fuel Bo and it will help him direct his focus to another level.
“To all the critics dog piling, remember Bo is nothing more than a man in an arena trying to support himself and his family.”
