Middleweight fighter Bo Nickal recently made his main card appearance, fighting Paul Craig. The fighter who usually finishes the fight with a knockout or submission failed to do so this time and instead went the full five-round.
Although the 24-year-old is considered one of the most hyped newcomers and had seven wins before his debut in the UFC, fans have fighter ideas. After his five-round clash with Craig–which was by far the longest fight in his career– the audience was not impressed by his performance, and they let him know with boos and chants of “overrated.”
“It was funny to hear the chants.” Nickal said Monday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.””It almost just made me laugh because the crowd and the people that are doing that. I’m looking at — I’ll explain it this way, when you get disrespected by people that, in my opinion, have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s almost a compliment. So, to feel that from the crowd almost just made me laugh. Because it’s like somebody insulting you who has no idea what’s going on.
“I feel like I controlled the fight. I did everything I needed to do. If I have a bunch of idiot drunk fans that they don’t like the way it’s going, I think that that’s actually probably a good thing.”
Regardless of audience expectations, Nickal believes he put on a good show despite the negative roar from the crowd. The fighter believes he put on a good performance and deserved the win. He was a bit disappointed when he heard Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier’s comments on the fight.
“The commentary and just hearing the way that they were looking at the fight made me feel like they didn’t know as much what was going on.” Nickal said. “Because anybody that I’ve talked to that are people that I trust and shoot straight with me were like. ‘Dude, you shut that guy out. Domination. It was a flawless fight.’ Then to hear ‘DC’ say things like, ‘Oh, he’s not ready for Khamzat [Chimaev]’ — I think he was trying to be respectful but also maybe set me down a peg. However, It was just weird to hear.
“It was a little disappointing to hear those comments from people that I respect a lot. What was going on in these guys’ heads? It just makes me feel like they don’t know what was happening. It’s confusing because I’m like, ‘Wait, what? How do you get that from that?’
“I didn’t even really get touched,” he concluded. “It’s so crazy.”
The matchup was interesting, as both fighters have different fighting styles. Craig is popularly known for his jiu-jitsu skills, while Nickal is a wrestler. Fans expected both opponents to take the battle to the canvas, but both fighters decided to stay on their feet and trade blows instead.
“I’m super happy with my performance,” Nickal said. “I feel like that was definitely a really valuable experience for me and my development. I think that the way I won was a pretty big boost to my confidence. Knowing that I can go in there against a guy that has 26 or 27 pro-MMA fights. However many, 10-12 years of experience, and shut him out for 15 minutes. So I feel like, yeah, maybe the crowd didn’t like it because I didn’t knock him out or submit him or whatever it was, but I don’t really feel like I took any damage.
“He landed maybe one or two strikes with his hands that were insignificant and I felt like I completely dominated the fight — and that was, I think, a really difficult way for me to win, considering my skill set and the way my other fights have gone. How many times do you see a guy fight against a big test. A big step up, and get tired or start to get pieced up or get taken advantage of in areas he’s not as well-versed? So I’m really proud of my performance and happy with it.”
Although the fighter is well known for his grappling skills, he didn’t perform any takedowns throughout the fight. The fighter remained standing for the fifteen-round bout, and Nickal was pretty impressed by his performance.
“I didn’t need to,” Nickal said of wrestling. “I was winning the striking, and at the end of the day, let’s look at Paul Craig’s résumé, his record, his stats, the film study, and every single big fight he’s won has been from his back. So why would I put myself in a position where he’s in his domain when I’m winning the fight? I think for me, that was just fighting smart. Not being an idiot, feeding into the crowd, and being emotional, right? That, to me, shows a lot of discipline.”
Due to his career shift, the fighter has been taking it a lot easier. However, this latest fight has awakened something fierce in him. The fighter is ready to take on tougher and more formidable opponents. However, with the recent outcome of his latest fight, Nickal is unsure when he will return to the UFC. He expects that the promotion will set up a more exciting and favorable matchup.
