Wrestling standout breaks silence after first loss of career
There was a lot of talk about Bo Nickal in the buildup to UFC on ESPN 67.
Some of it was Nickal’s own doing when he talked about bulking up north of 220 pounds ahead of his next middleweight fight. Come fight week in Des Moines, Iowa, that left some analysts wondering if Nickal had been employing a bit of gamesmanship around a supposed hard weight cut.
This past Friday on the scale, he came in at 185.5 pounds and was one of the final few fighters to weight in. How difficult the cut was, perhaps only Nickal and his crew from American Top Team only know.
It didn’t get in the way of the betting lines for Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) being north of 4-1 in his favor against former ONE Championship two-division titleholder Reinier de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in the co-main event.
When the dust settled Saturday, though, de Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) was all smiles while his hand was raised. Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) left the cage with the first loss of his MMA career. His loss was the fourth biggest upset of 2025 in the UFC – so not at all insignificant.
Nickal, an elite wrestler, took de Ridder down in the first round, but an eventual scramble saw him wind up on his back in a rarity. In the second, de Ridder stayed on his feet against Nickal and started working knees and punches to the body. They started to take their toll, and one final one crumbled Nickal and his unbeaten record.
Sunday, he broke his proverbial silence of all of 16 hours or so after the loss to deliver a short message on social media.
“Grateful for the highs and lows,” Nickal posted. “I’ll be back.”
Nickal had two submission wins on DWCS to get into the UFC, then two straight first-round finishes in the promotion. WHen the competition stepped up to Cody Brundage a year ago, he had to go into the second round for the first time, but left with a submission win. This past November, he had to go the distance for the first time, but still left with a decision over Paul Craig.
But against de Ridder, arguably his most decorated opponent yet, he fell victim to the brutal body shots.
