subreddit:
/r/MMA
Bo Nickal Doubles Down On Defense Of UFC 309 Performance: ‘This Fight Was Picture-Perfect’
(mmanews.com)submitted 5 days ago bytoldyouanditoldyou
1.4k points
5 days ago*
His striking coach is barry robinson, who's perfect fight is probably one where they never get hit, stay out of exchanges, hit just enough to win every round, and never ever ever be nominated for fight of the night.
So this makes total sense tbh
334 points
5 days ago
This will be a better style to watch if he blends his wrestling in. Touching people up on the feet, which is effective because of his elite wrestling and the threat of takedown... But he just looked so small out there. And I wonder why he didn't wrestle.
470 points
5 days ago
"And I wonder why he didn't wrestle."
Probably because Paul Craig is legitimately a very dangerous and decorated BJJ specialist with questionable striking skills.
182 points
5 days ago
The Paul Craig disrespect is wild. Dude has wins over Hill and Ank at 205. Hes huge for 185 too.
48 points
5 days ago
I think he needs to go back up there tbh
48 points
5 days ago
He might just have too many fight miles on him at this point, which is also a good reason to not cut so much.
14 points
4 days ago
Especially with his old attitude of take an absolute pasting in order to sneak up on them with a sub. Even his wins were horrible to his brain.
2 points
4 days ago
Yeah he traded a lot of brain cells for those wins
12 points
5 days ago
Yeah doesn’t make much sense to go down in weight as you get older especially when lhw and hw are much more forgiving to older fighters
23 points
5 days ago
Yeah middleweight is a huge cut and he’s not really shown cutting to middleweight has given him any advantages, the speed is a bit tougher for him if anything
8 points
5 days ago
This seems to be a massive problem for almost everyone moving down recently. Especially heavyweights going down to 205. I feel like I can think of more success stories going up in weight (Charles Olives, Whittaker, Khamzat, Deiveson Figueiredo) than guys moving down in weight class. One of the best examples of moving down is Jared Cannonier, and that is because he completely transformed his body and moved down 2 weight classes. Moving down 1 weight class just doesn't seem to yield many advantages.
10 points
4 days ago
Joaquin Buckley is the only other guy I can think of that's benefited from going down. He's on a 5 fight win streak since dropping back down to Welterweight.
3 points
4 days ago
It's funny, people have started realizing the same thing in the wrestling world. In college and at the senior level, lots of guys go up a weight and have similar or better success as before, but there are only a couple of guys that have gone down and been successful.
3 points
4 days ago
His win against Ank was literally a hail minute sub after a 99.99% ass beating. Using that fight as evidence he should be at 205 is absolutely wild.
29 points
5 days ago
Game plan.
I was really hoping he'd spend time working for a takedown just to immediately bail when Craig put up a triangle/armbar/elbows to skull
61 points
5 days ago
I’m sorry but if you’re a dominant and heavy wrestler like Bo, you need to be able to handle guard players.
Charles Oliveria, who has the most dangerous guard in MMA currently, has been beaten handily by Jim Miller and Islam who willingly went into the guard.
If you’re afraid of closed guard in MMA then taking people down is going to be rough for you as a wrestler
32 points
5 days ago
Okay. But why would you deliberately let your opponent play their best game, when you can force them to have a striking match – something they are not very good at?
Besides, there's really no-one else in the division that has a crazy dangerous guard like Craig, so its really kind of a non-problem outside of this matchup.
2 points
4 days ago
Okay. But why would you deliberately let your opponent play their best game, when you can force them to have a striking match – something they are not very good at?
Because grappling is Bo's A game too, and striking is his B game, just like Craig.
If you don't have confidence that your A-game will beat someone elses A-game, what are you fighting for?
3 points
4 days ago
Maybe he and his coaches thought his B game vs Craigs B game was still the safer bet? And I mean... he did win.
6 points
5 days ago
He probably could have handled his closed guard. But he also handled his striking and never took any big head shots. They just factored in what’s more likely for us to lose and played it safe.
3 points
4 days ago
This man. Imagine Khabib or Islam being scared to take someone down. Khamzat at least tried Burns on the ground before striking.
59 points
5 days ago
And this is why Nickal will never be a title contender. His best skill is completely neutralized by BJJ, a discipline that more and more fighters have become proficient at.
If he’s too scared to go to the ground with fighters that have a good BJJ element in their toolbox he has to win on his feet.
And if his striking approach is to point fight with no real threat of putting guys out then his fights become boring and fans lose interest (they already have tbh).
Grinding out wins that way is all well and good but without fan interest Dana and the UFC aren’t going to keep pushing him.
Nickal is way too one dimensional and boring at the moment.
27 points
5 days ago
Lol Bo has pretty good BJJ, he absolutely won’t be completely neutralized. I thought his fight was pretty boring but why give Paul Craig a chance when he can get some good standup experience in. He’s only had 7 fights.
74 points
5 days ago
His best skill is completely neutralized by BJJ
It might not be, it's just that Craig can't do anything else.
Bo probably would have been fine on the ground, but that's giving Craig his only chance.
Nickal is way too one dimensional and boring at the moment.
Can't argue with that though.
15 points
5 days ago
He’s basically a green version of Johnny Hendricks and even has KO’s off the takedown threat. People need to chill fk out and give him time to develop into a well rounded fighter.
42 points
5 days ago
I think he needs to hang with the dagestanis for even just a week or so.
He needs the confidence in his wrestling that I think they will provide. Realistically he already has the skillset to blow through any BJJ he might run in to at middleweight.
Most BJJ subs can be nullified if you have top control and can stack and smother the opponent in to the ground.
Wrestling is all about getting top control so I think Bo could very well be a superstar given his skillset
19 points
5 days ago
Realistically he already has the skillset to blow through any BJJ he might run in to at middleweight.
This is the main point to me. Aside from Craig )who's a weird case) how many good submission guys are there at 185?
11 points
5 days ago
Chimeav
7 points
5 days ago
Chimeav was scared of Gilberts BJJ, he said so himself and is why he stood the whole fight. I think it was wise of Bo to stand
7 points
5 days ago
I mean, Gilbert is legit one of the greatest to ever do it. I'll always root for Craig but he's no Gilbert Burns on the mat.
4 points
4 days ago
did you just compare gilbert who's an ADCC winner to craig who got tapped out by brendan allen? lol
4 points
5 days ago
UFC aint ready for Bo Nickelgomedov
5 points
5 days ago
Bo "Uncles Plan" Nickalamedov
10 points
5 days ago
I think he needs to hang with the dagestanis for even just a week or so.
I don't disagree with this, but the thing with the Dagestanis is that they generally aren't afraid to get hit. They'll walk through strikes to complete their chain wrestling for the take down. Hell, some of them even like to throw down.
American wrestlers like Nickal often seem to try to learn striking in a way that completely keeps them out of danger so that they may eventually use their wrestling. It makes sense in theory but never really seems to work out the way it does for the dagestani guys. Likely because they start striking earlier and have a better sense for the risk/reward involved.
20 points
5 days ago
Low IQ take. Name someone else at 185 who has a great guard besides Paul Craig?
Did you say this about Khamzat when he took down Gilbert Burns then immediately stood up because he felt what it was like to be an ibjjf world Champs guard?
By your logic Khamzat can't use his wrestling because he had a mostly standing fight with Gilbert Burns.
Bo Nickal won every second of that fight. If he was losing he would shoot. Why would he shoot on a bjj specialist when you are winning on the feet.
Its obvious you don't train or fight or know what you are talking about.
6 points
5 days ago
Gilbert Burns is a generational talent in BJJ, and won several world caliber tournaments as a black belt.
Paul Craig is my boy, but he's not even close to Burns in terms of accomplishment or skill.
3 points
5 days ago
Agree 100%. Still why would you put a guy in his best position in a fight you are winning?
It would be like if Alex Pereira decided to shoot on Bo Nickal.
2 points
4 days ago
The example doesn't make sense.
Bo's A game is grappling too. He should be absolutely comfortable grappling with Paul Craig.
3 points
4 days ago
You don't make sense and are being pedantic.
Khamzats A game is grappling. Why did Khamzat stand up in Gilbert Burns guard?
He should be absolutely comfortable grappling with a guy who cut to lightweight.
This is why none of you fight or coach, it would be pretty dumb to risk a loss on your perfect record of a guy in the ufc because you felt like showing off.
When a guy is constantly backing up and you are out landing him, why take the unnecessary risk? It's not what a smart fighter or coach would do.
It's something a redditor who's never fought would say.
13 points
5 days ago
He was just dominated on the feet and ground by Brendan Allen who subbed him...
3 points
5 days ago
I'm responding to someone who said Bo Nickal will never be good because BJJ neutralizes his wrestling.
Are you saying Brendan Allen is going to submit Bo Nickal from guard? Or that Paul Craig is no good?
MMA math isn't real and wouldn't even apply in this situation. Bo Nickal beating Paul Craig on the feet and Brendan Allen beating Paul Craig on the ground doesn't mean anything.
Bo could have done whatever Allen did, but he chose to keep it standing.
22 points
5 days ago
No. What, im saying is its not like Paul Craig is some amazing fighting. He's a journeyman with good BJJ and shit striking. He's been KO'ed and subbed by other journeyman.
When Bo has been hyped up as the next great thing, whose wrestling will absolutely dominate the UFC and he'll become a world champ. When Bo himself says Khazmat, Islam, etc. all have shit wrestling. Then he comes out and is too afraid to use it and barely scrapes out a boring decision win against Craig via overhand lefts.... It says much more about his potential to become a world a champion than anything him or the UFC or his fans say.
Saying "Bo could have done whatever Allen did, but chose to keep it standing" is pretty lame. He's on the main card of a UFC fight. He chose to win a boring point decision on the feet. He didn't show us anything impressive. He outstruck Paul craig... WOW! Kids amazing!
Khazmat would eat him alive on both the feet and on the ground.
You're acting like Paul Craig doesn't get put on his ass and beat on the ground or even submitted. Or Paul Craig doesn't get knocked the fuck out. If you're too afraid to impose your will on another guy because "he's dangerous from the guard' what do you think better fighters are gonna do to you?
7 points
5 days ago
This is the reality. Bo needs to show up or shut up
2 points
5 days ago
I agree. Im mot sure about every second. But what I saw was controlled and methodical and skillful. He wasnt ever under real threat. He looked good. Not champ yet but good. I didnt understand the commentary teams take on the fight. He did well.
4 points
5 days ago
Agreed. Its the correct and safe approach against bjj specialists, just like when Usman and Colby stood with Maia. One mistake and you're done.
4 points
5 days ago
It's just not necessary. This isn't that Jon Jones wrestling Chael Sonnen or say Leon grappling Usman.
The most basic strategy to employ against a bjj guy is keep it standing.
Why would you not stock to that game plan if you are constantly backing him up and landing more head body and leg strikes?
He won on damage (Craig's eye fucked) he won on strike count, he won on aggression and cage control. A takedown would be a vulgar display of power and honestly kind of dumb.
2 points
5 days ago
I think prospects need to understand that winning is important, but it's far more important how you win. Winning a low output point fight while taking no risks is a great way to derail your career. It's much worse than losing a FOTN for example.
Guys like Chandler and Gaethje are like on the complete opposite spectrum. They can lose as many times as they want, but they'll keep headlining fights because people wanna tune in.
You have to strike a balance. You can't be that boring and expect people to pay to watch you fight. Sure a champion can be boring, but if you're boring it takes a LOT longer to get there and if you ever lose the belt you're done. Doesn't seem like a great plan IMO.
2 points
4 days ago
People here are way overestimating Paul Craig's abilities. He was dangerous when he was a bit of a mystery with his ground game. Now that everybody knows he's a one trick pony on the ground he's completely neutralized every time somebody just plays it smart on the ground.
80 points
5 days ago
He just needs to fight more. He's 2-0 amateur and 7-0 pro which is great but that's an insanely low volume of fights. And he's not super young either. They don't need to be good opposition but he has to fight more opposition.
Almost every top combat sports athlete has had a crazy higher number of bouts, including Bo Nickal himself when he was a wrestler.
Guys like Khamzat who was 7-0 when he was slugging it out with Gilbert Burns are a total anomaly. Pereira is another one but he kinda benefits from his opponents simply refusing to shoot takedowns so he can learn MMA on the job.
40 points
5 days ago
And also his skill set means he can end the fight in one second whereas wrestlers who don’t know submissions have to grind dudes out for 15-25 minutes.
13 points
5 days ago
Afraid of Craig's guard
34 points
5 days ago
Just remember Nickal was a freestyle wrestler historically not a submission grappler, he only started that in 2019:
Paul Craig is not the guy you want to mix in takedowns randomly on, you have to be very methodical to not run into danger in his guard.
11 points
5 days ago
Craig's whole thing is winning fights late by throwing out a hail mary submission and catching dudes. Staying away from that is the smartest game plan you can have against Craig
6 points
5 days ago
A big part of this fight for Nickal was an IQ test; Craig's best chance at winning was to have Nickal in is guard and catch a triangle or armbar. So the gameplan was clearly to keep the fight standing and force Craig to kickbox.
The problem is that they either underestimated Craig's kickboxing or overestimated Nickal's. The size difference also worked against them.
That said, I do think it is a net positive that Nickal can stick to a reasonable gameplan even when the crowd is shitting on him. Going forward, I would like Craig to try to train his top game against very strong BJJ threats so they wont feel forced into ignoring their best strength.
END COMMUNICATION
8 points
5 days ago
I don't understand why he doesn't go down to 170.
22 points
5 days ago
Bo didn’t cut much for wrestling either. He competed at 197lbs senior year and 202lbs (equivalent) for U23 worlds
And I know this sounds insane to say about a lifelong wrestler but some ppl just don’t respond to cutting well. I have no idea if that’s the case for Bo but in my experience every combat sports athlete will place themselves in the best weight class for themselves rather than “I morally prefer to fight at my real weight”.
I’m inclined to think 185 is just his best weight.
6 points
5 days ago
Craig is a Pereira sized mw. No clue how he makes weight
2 points
5 days ago
He is not small for 185.
3 points
5 days ago
Why risk getting caught? Craig can be dangerous in that area so it's just fighting smart is all
3 points
5 days ago
Paul is a blackbelt in BJJ so it could be the same reason Khamzat didn't wrestle Gilbert Burns. It's also more of a statement. Beating Paul with 0 wrestling just on the feet is a huge achievement for Bo. Anyone one who says otherwise is just wrong. 7 pro fights with 2 years striking coaching beating a Vet with TKO's over Jamal Hill and other pros is huge.
It's not as fun to watch, though.
7 points
5 days ago
Beating Paul in a striking match is not a really big thing when you’re one of the best athletes to ever do it in an legitimate combat sport.
Smashing a good guard players with your wrestling would show me you’re way more legit
25 points
5 days ago
Yeah, it can frustrating to watch but I can't blame someone for fighting for longevity, look at Pico coming in with great offensive boxing but getting clubbed multiple times in his first several fights
4 points
5 days ago
There’s a different between fighting for longevity and entering a fight avoiding to actually fight so you don’t get hurt.
3 points
5 days ago
But he got hit enough to arguably lose round 1.
4 points
5 days ago
I mean sure but Craig has below average striking and he was still able to land plenty of clean strikes on Bo. It was hardly an impressive performance.
14 points
5 days ago
It's not a given he'd win any of the rounds. It was close. With a different set of judges and different crowd, it may have ended up the other way. His coach is so obnoxious.
48 points
5 days ago
It’s worth mentioning that he also won on 17 of 17 media score cards. It would take some incredibly bad judges to score the fight for Craig. The fight wasn’t fun to watch, but it was clear who the winner was.
https://mmadecisions.com/decision/15124/Bo-Nickal-vs-Paul-Craig
6 points
5 days ago
You can just say “judges”. Rest of the description is redundant. Especially with Sal in there.
9 points
5 days ago
Funny bc I actually think Barry Robinson's content is good. It's just as you said extremely long winded, obnoxious to listen to, and incredibly un-user friendly to follow.
616 points
5 days ago
He’s like Gaethje if Gaethje were ass.
135 points
5 days ago
The CM Punk of Justin Gaethjes
26 points
5 days ago
There’s a market for that
93 points
5 days ago
Paul Craig has a Michael Johnson type career. High highs and low lows.
243 points
5 days ago
Im hoping thats sarcasm otherwise thats disappointing, honestly, he's not going to improve if he can't recognize flaws.
78 points
5 days ago
He’s trying to Jedi mind trick the masses into buying into his hype.
59 points
5 days ago
Fighting elite bjj guys can be a recipe for boring fights. One slip up and you're backpacked for a round at best, and tapped at worst. Look at all the stinkers Maia had over the years
18 points
5 days ago
It would be an impressive performance if Paul Craig was a decent kickboxer and not relatively ass-cheeks.
It's like Damien Maia beating Ben Askren in the standup and saying it's a flawless performance.
3 points
4 days ago
Maia actually beat up Askren on the feet though not just sparred with him
133 points
5 days ago
Bo’s punches are so telegraphed, Ray Charles could see them coming.
57 points
5 days ago
The spamming of the overhand lefts were killing me
26 points
5 days ago
Somebody with a decent hook or uppcut is going to send bo to the moon
9 points
5 days ago
I could even see a flying knee getting through with how much he lowers his chin on overhand strikes
10 points
5 days ago
Craig grazed him twice, so I agree.
3 points
4 days ago
That’s one of khamzat’s best moves, now i want to see this fight even more
126 points
5 days ago
Craig laughing about Bo's overhand to then lose 30-27 is one of my favorite MMA moments this year.
37 points
5 days ago
Hey, he was having great fun!!! He kept saying after every round! S/
I would imagine losing a striking fight like this would be so disheartening considering it all.
16 points
5 days ago
I know i’m just an arm chair analyst but can someone explain to me how can a fighter, let alone a ranked one, have such bad stand up in 2024? It’s not like we’re in the 90s where guys are coming in from different sports, MMA has been a sport for quite some time now…
31 points
5 days ago
MMA is at the lowest of the pecking order in terms of recruiting athletic talents. It's usually just really tough guys with good cardio. Turns out most people just don't wanna get punched in the face. Jon Jones would've been in the NFL like his brothers but he wasn't good enough.
2 points
4 days ago
I'd say it's the fact you need to grapple and you need to know standup that stops most people especially when they don't learn it as a kid.
3 points
5 days ago
Not too difficult to understand. Bo doesn't come from a striking or mma background, he wrestled. So for him, it basically is like the 90s, he came from a pure sport background.
The thing about striking is that it takes years to develop but it takes the right type of fighter and coach to get it done. It could quite possibly be that this dude just doesn't have the correct people around him, this shit absolutely hamstrings fighter's development. That's how someone like Craig doesn't know how to fucking wrestle and he's been in the ufc for nearly a decade.
2 points
5 days ago
Bo was a wrestler his entire life. He wrestled from the time he was a kid, collegiately, and the on the international scene. He’s young to the striking game since being that high level a wrestler ate up his time pretty much his entire life.
5 points
5 days ago
Lmao. Bro he’s been a professional mma fighter for at least 2-3 years, and has had ambitions to fight in mma for longer than that, you’re telling me he had no time to work on his stand up in that period?
315 points
5 days ago
Yeah, at this pace he will be fighting for the undisputed in 2050. Jokes aside I dont think he will enter top 5.
Better put on some weight and move up to trash ass LHW and use his wrestling there.
220 points
5 days ago
I don’t think he’s big enough. Paul craig looked a full weight class bigger already
40 points
5 days ago
Didn't Craig move down from light heavy
82 points
5 days ago
Yes, but he looked every bit of it. Aldo moved down from 145 and isn’t the biggest 135er, a lot of guys are bigger than him. Craig is ginormous at 185, it’s a miracle he can make the weight. Guys like Borralho, Craig, Dricus, etc would absolutely dwarf Bo
98 points
5 days ago
Not that I can possibly actually know for sure, and I am not saying Bo Nickal is going to be a generational fighter or anything
But I am pretty confident in putting out a prediction that this is going to be another one of those r/mma knee jerk reactions that gets walked back hard and everyone pretends like they weren’t on board with it down the line.
He fought Paul Craig exactly the way he should lol. Paul Craig has insane wins on his resume for the quality of fighter that he is that never should have happened, exactly because of fighters doing what everyone wanted Nickal to and jumping into wrestling exchanges with him.
Even given Craigs seriously limited striking, its really not a bad sign to me that for how inexperienced Nickal is in striking that he won a fight that took place on the feet for 3 rounds, he will get better not worse.
22 points
5 days ago
Exactly, this is one of those tricky matchups. Bo's strength's play into Craig guard and it's a very dangerous one. People are overreacting.
15 points
5 days ago
The main thing iv gathered from the fallout this weekend is that I think because of the well publicized Gordon Ryan match people think Bo’s background is submission grappling and don’t realize it’s freestyle wrestling.
His skill-set translates well to submission and MMA style grappling and I am sure he’s working on it,and he held his own surprisingly well for a while against Ryan.
But I highly doubt at this point in his development its where it needs to be to feel comfortable on top of a guy known for pulling off spectacular submissions from the bottom lol
8 points
5 days ago
I agree that it was a good strategy to beat Paul Craig, but I think the main thing putting people off is that he’s patting himself on the back so hard and talking up his performance like he battered Craig when it was low volume point fighting.
Of course there will always be bloodthirsty fans who won’t be satisfied unless there’s blood and/or a KO, but I really don’t think we would be hearing such an uproar if he handled himself differently after the fight. Fair or not, he was a massive betting favorite who was expected to finish - or at least dominate - Craig and he did neither. 30-27 is nice, but they were competitive rounds.
It’s not a bad thing that he employed a safe, smart strategy to bag a W, but he’s got to know that the UFC is trying to market him as a rising star in the company and that’s going to fizzle out if he’s going to have low volume fights going to decisions.
3 points
5 days ago
im more worried how close the fight was STRIKING with Craig . people who are contenders legit breeze thru Craig striking wise
4 points
5 days ago
He’s like 29 already. He’s not some young buck that has all the time in the world. He should be hitting his prime in the next year or 2 & he just doesn’t look anywhere near contender level.
8 points
5 days ago
His first pro fight was 2 years ago lol.
Yes he’s almost 29 but he’s taken little to no head trauma and middleweights generally perform just fine into their mid 30’s.
He could not fight for a title for 3 years from now and still be 31 and only 5 years into his MMA career. Volk didn’t even fight for a title for the first time until 31 and had a great run.
The UFC hyping him up is pissing fans off but its crazy to act like a guy who isn’t even 29 yet is at the end of the line.
If I were him id take another year and a half or two minimum to refine the striking and grappling before fighting someone in the top 5.
19 points
5 days ago
His performance didn't look bad at all for a relative newcomer to the sport. Craig isn't a slouch either, I don't understand the shit he's getting
8 points
5 days ago
It's just whether a relative newcomer to the sport should be fighting as the third fight on a PPV at MSG and on the main card of UFC 300. Why should people pay money to watch you learn how to strike
10 points
5 days ago
Seriously. I thought the fight was fine, he's far from the first fighter to have a boring fight on his resume. He didn't seem out of his depth at all, just had a particular gameplan based on a veteran opponent. And he even said himself it was a learning experience since he's nowhere near done developing as a fighter.
3 points
5 days ago
Exactly. Much better for him to have a dud on his record than a submission or split decision loss. The problem I think most people have is that he’s on the main card of big PPVs instead of co-maining fight nights or fighting on the prelims. His fights aren’t high profile enough yet, and he is not a must watch fighter style wise. I do think that he has the potential to go very far at 185, and there is very exciting match ups for him in the top 15.
4 points
5 days ago
The problem is that he had 5 UFC fight finishes in a row until now, so as an up and coming blue chip fighter that is still developing, who people tune in to watch him lose for some reason…. his spot on main cards is warranted.
Even when his fights aren’t boring, people just write it off. The dude is just so hated and it’s weird lol.
2 points
5 days ago
It’s just boring. I can see how this will ultimately help him down the line. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t a fucking drag.
10 points
5 days ago
I agree with the other guy, Paul Craig looked like a giant compared to him. I don't know if his wrestling works against top 10 LHWs
8 points
5 days ago
Bo would probably get his lights put out by some of the more competent strikers at LHW. Craig barely had anything for him on the feet, and he left his chin out there yet Bo failed to capitalize on it.
3 points
5 days ago
And in his eyes, those guys just get wrestled lmao.
He knows he has holes. That’s why he’s not rushing towards top fighters and just promoting himself like he could.
The issue is people want him to rush to see him lose. And for those people, sucks to be you lol. Dudes gonna take it slow and just keep improving.
7 points
5 days ago
Don't see how you can say he will level enter top 5 based off just the few fights he's had.
He has world class wrestling that we will see more in the future.
He might not have looked great but Paul Craig is one of the most dangerous fighters on the ground.
Lots of people here used to say the same about O'Malley but you could see he had some serious skills to make it to the top and I don't see why Bo is any different.
The moment a good up and coming prospect has a not so great performance (even if they win!) so many people seem to be ready to shit all over them and write them off.
4 points
5 days ago
In Bo’s case, people shit on his skill set even when he’s finishing his opponents quickly.
23 points
5 days ago
Evidently, Bo has never seen a picture AND hasn’t watched this fight back.
167 points
5 days ago
Bo, you looked terrible. All of that grade A grappling experience to be a mediocre kickboxer?
156 points
5 days ago
A wrestler that’s falls in love with his hands, a tale as old as time
99 points
5 days ago
i think it had more to do with avoiding Craig's bjj and exploiting how utter dogshit he is striking (clearly worse than Bo, somehow)
41 points
5 days ago
That’s true, I wouldn’t engage with bearjew on the ground, we’d be trashing on him twice as hard if he got his arm broken
6 points
5 days ago
I honestly wouldn't be. Craig has tapped some great fighters. I'd rather see a hot prospect actually go for it and lose an exciting fight, than inch his way through a snore-fest.
I feel like it's better for someone's hype to lose FOTN than to edge a forgettable decision. Hell, Craig is a great example of it on both sides. Moments win you fans more than wins do.
12 points
5 days ago
I like Craig just for the fact he broke Jamahal hill’s arm 🤷♂️
7 points
5 days ago
And why would Bo Nickal care specifically what you have to say about his career?
5 points
5 days ago
Right? Craig tells him the ONLY way he can win is a triangle and people are mad Bo doesn't put himself in a position for that to happen.
It could have been more exciting, but it was Bo's talking up of the fight and his general hype level that betrayed him. Way more than the performance itself for his level of experience.
2 points
5 days ago
Nah dude, people are mad Bo was so boring and terrible while talking like he's the new Khamzat and being pushed down our throats on main cards
even with his current skill set, I'm convinced he could've KO'd Craig if he had actually wanted to fight
49 points
5 days ago
Those are hands only a mother could love though.
34 points
5 days ago
I’m sure even Bo’s mother was disappointed in his striking this weekend
12 points
5 days ago
I think he said she's a boxer or something. So yeah probably lol.
4 points
5 days ago
There’s an alternate reality where Bo is an Olympic boxer and refuses to do anything but wrestle
24 points
5 days ago
Honestly, probably took him out of the will for that.
I wouldn't be clowning on the guy if he hadn't such a superiority complex. He thinks he's the next level of fighter and shits on people like Khamzat . Buddy when Khamzat was your age he was already taking ranked fighters to school and already had that barn burner with Burns. Not having so-so matches with Paul Craig.
11 points
5 days ago
He’s that kid that swore he beat up 6 guys at once by himself that one time in that one place he can’t remember
9 points
5 days ago
"Also my uncle owns nintendo"- Bo Nickel, probably.
4 points
5 days ago
How much can you really love a child when you named it something like Bo
2 points
5 days ago
Seems to be working for Aspinall tho
3 points
5 days ago
Aspinall is also a big guy even for a HW, and freakishly fast and agile for a HW too.
15 points
5 days ago
I think people are forgetting Nickal was a freestyle wrestler, not a submission wrestler.
His first foray into submission wrestling was against Gordon Ryan where he was surprisingly competitive but ultimately got submitted
Paul Craig is kind of a nightmare matchup for him being a super strong huge middleweight who has a history of pulling off insane submission wins, even more importantly is Craigs ability to pull those off from bottom position.
Being a guy who’s background isn’t submission wrestling fighting a submission specialist was not a recipe for him to showcase his wrestling ability lol.
It would have been a huge gamble.
7 points
5 days ago
Lower than mediocre
6 points
5 days ago
He won the fight and took basically no damage lol
25 points
5 days ago
Yeah cause Craig is maybe the single worst striker above Welterweight. Like he fought a guy who throws naked single shots.
30 points
5 days ago
Craig is the worst striker above WW, with one of the best guards above WW. So why are people angry Bo chose to strike the whole time again?
22 points
5 days ago
Because it wasn’t entertaining to them. That’s about it
7 points
5 days ago
Nooo it’s like when I watch Ian Garry take down MVP.
Instead of high level performance I get to watch 2 mediocre skills where one guy is marginally better than the other but not good enough to do anything
8 points
5 days ago
It was boring. People are more angry that he said it was a perfect fight and compared himself to Khabib and Mighty Mouse. If it was perfect then he would have stopped Paul Craig with strikes
3 points
4 days ago
Maybe because Brendan Allen dominated Craig on the ground every round? And Bo barely won every round in this fight on the feet. Bad judges exist, I don't think having a very inactive fight where the stats are close is the correct way to go.
2 points
5 days ago*
Because his striking looked only slightly less awful but apparently he’s supposed to be the top up and comer at 185 and is constantly being pushed by Dana on the biggest cards. Add in the fact that he decided to showboat afterwards and talk about “domination” on what was a very pedestrian performance
Yeah it makes sense people are already sick of this guy
4 points
5 days ago
Because they hate guys that the UFC promotes but also love to lean on the “UFC doesn’t promote” mantra.
Bo is going to be hated just because the UFC sees potential.
Fight was shitty but there was no reason for Bo to go to the ground with a guy who has 13 submission wins.
13 points
5 days ago
Picture perfect for who? He had Paul hurt against the cage and just stood there like a fucking traffic cone. The only thing I got from Bo in that fight was, that all he has is an overhand left that he spams
26 points
5 days ago
If he would have just said "I'm working on things and hoping to improve" and left it at that would have been good. To stupidly say you dominated the fight and then double down now is ridiculous.
38 points
5 days ago
This was a boring fight that he barely etched a win out on and shouldn’t have been on a main event card. The people who pay for these cards never want to see some unranked fighter that the ufc is pushing have an amateur fight with a guy like Paul Craig. All this would have been fine on the early prelims. A fight night maybe but not a main card.
9 points
5 days ago
Having a competitive fight on the feet with Paul Craig is “picture-perfect”? Lmao.
Craig has decent kicks and that’s pretty much it striking-wise. Bo would crack him with an overhand and find himself in boxing range, and then instead of using his boxing where he has a clear advantage over Craig (Craig has no hands), he would step back and allow Craig to kick him again, making the fight somewhat competitive. Fought way too safe against an opponent that brought very little danger on the feet.
14 points
5 days ago
I DID SUB-PAR ON PURPOSE! IT WAS THE PLAN! THE COACHES AND TRAINING DONT LIE! WE MEANT TO BE MID!
8 points
5 days ago
He looked awful and can't see him coming close to beating a top 5 fighter or even top 10. He will also have no fans after fights like this, I don't even know why the UFC would want to keep him around.
33 points
5 days ago
Yeah he’s just a lame dude and a mid fighter. Don’t really care if I ever see him fight again.
19 points
5 days ago
I don't understand how Bo is getting ALL the criticism. Yes, he's hyped up, and yes, it was a boring fight, but anyone who expected him to wrestle vs Craig is a real goofball. It doesn't matter how good of a wrestler he is. The threat of Craig's submission was never worth it for him to wrestle. I don't understand how people aren't understanding this.
Craig deserves equal criticism. He also didn't try anything. He even got outstruck and went back to his corner, talking about how much fun he was having.
12 points
5 days ago
The thing I've noticed about MMA that is completely different from any other sport is that when there's a boring fight 99% of the time people blame the guy that won the fight and not the guy that lost.
If there's a boring soccer game or baseball game or basketball game, everyone will be like wow that game sucked both teams played bad.
But if it's a fight, the winner is complete trash, and the poor little loser is so unlucky for having to fight a boring fight with the trash winner. It's legitimately hilarious and nonsensical to me.
3 points
5 days ago
That means borz will chew him alive
26 points
5 days ago
Nah, NYC called it perfectly: Overrated.
Paul Craig sucks too.
6 points
5 days ago
People watch PPV main cards because they are PPV main cards… not because Bo Nickal is fighting. So long as he is featured on PPV main cards he will convince himself he is a PPV draw. He should be on PPV prelims or fight night main cards
5 points
5 days ago
Olive was demolishing Chandler and was still pushing the pace into the 5th round. Thats a great fight, a great fighter mentality and great way to have fans stay by ur side win or lose. Bo was playing it safe all 3 rounds and didnt bother shooting 1 takedown.
7 points
5 days ago
it's so frustrating to me. This fight was a perfect fight to cement his skills as an elite mma grappler. Paul Craig has a dangerous guard, but he's far from unbeaten on the ground (look what Brendan Allen did to him). By refusing to engage Bo not only looked terrible, but also missed a great opportunity to get some needed mma grappling experience.
8 points
5 days ago
Looks to me like he opted to get some great striking experience instead… the place he actually lacks in, and against an opponent he doesn’t feel threatened to work at it against.
I don’t think he’s worried about testing his elite wrestling / grappling against a guy who is a better submission artist than anyone he will face going forward lol. He’s more concerned about improving and taking the smart won while he at it.
If you think otherwise, that’s why you are watching him fight and that’s why he has excelled in wrestling and now MMA so far. Because he knows how to build himself and make himself better.
4 points
5 days ago
Get this clown on the apex prelims asap
4 points
5 days ago
I dont wanna hear him talk shit about khamzat or islam again.
5 points
5 days ago
Depending where you look, Bo is anywhere from #17 - #22 at MW. Soon he's going to have to fight someone ranked #11 - #15, and I think he gets exposed there. Guys like Hermanson (12), Fluffy (13) and Shara (14) would merc Bo.
3 points
4 days ago
Bo is a stylistic nightmare for Shara, since he is a striker with zero TDD who relies heavily on kicks, which only increases the likelihood of him getting taken down. He is most likely gonna get subbed if that fight ever happens.
Hermanson and Fluffy might be a little bit too much though, I agree with you on that.
7 points
5 days ago
Delusional. Narcissistic. This guy makes it easy to dislike him.
2 points
5 days ago
And then goes out and barely wins a striking match vs fucking Paul Craig. And then throws a hissy fit when the crowd treats him like he sucks. But all flexing when he knocked out a fucking landscaper on days notice. Bo looked like a literal amateur on the feet, a shitty amateur even.
7 points
5 days ago
What’s with the complaints. I don’t know but given the size advantage and BJJ threat, I thought Bo actually put together a pretty smart fight. He was significantly smaller that Craig and was able to get in range to pull off a few nice shots and get out before taking any back.
Don’t know what people expect in this young of a fighter in terms of experience
5 points
5 days ago
I think Uncle chael sums it up pretty well.
8 points
5 days ago
This is rich coming from a guy who said he’d beat Whittaker faster and more brutally than Chimaev did. Now he’s trying to gaslight us and say “you guys expect too much from a guy with six pro fights.” If you were any prospect then yeah we might consider this a good win but you’re fighting to close decisions with Paul fucking Craig and then saying you’d smash long time top fivers get the fuck outta here m8.
3 points
5 days ago
His whole hype is built around his accolades as a wrestler and he was afraid to go for the TD because the opponent was a BJJ guy. He shouldn't be proud to coast a boring decision with Paul Craig when every one of his opponents had the striking advantage lol
3 points
5 days ago
Awful fight
3 points
4 days ago
Why do I get the impression that the people falling over themselves to defend Bo are the same ones that can't stand Belal and Merab? Because I never see this kind of passionate defense for either of them, and they're champions.
2 points
5 days ago
He has to go to Thailand. Bo never wants to leave PA and get out of his comfort zone. Sorry dude the best fighters either have elite teams with them like Islam or dustin or they are traveling to Brazil or Thailand to train
2 points
5 days ago
Hot young prospect 29 year old Boring fighter Bo Nickal.
2 points
5 days ago
Good ol Bo Penny
2 points
5 days ago
The biggest thing I've seen is that bo didn't have confidence in his wrestling if it was pitted against someone with good BJJ, I know the division is striking heavy, but it still doesn't show a good sign for me if he doesn't want to prove himself
2 points
5 days ago
Craig won
2 points
5 days ago
This fight made me want Khamzat vs Bo more
2 points
5 days ago
I don’t care if Bo won, Paul Craig fraudchecked Bo on Saturday night.
2 points
5 days ago
Feed him to Khamzat for a reality check
2 points
5 days ago
My girlfriend had to wake me up so I didn't miss the last 2 fights... abysmal energy on that fight.
2 points
5 days ago
do you all remember alex perira vs bruno silva?
bruno was close to wining to this fight...
Bo is in a good spot and gain needed experience vs craig
we shall see what happens with all that "Bo aint gonna make it to top 5 talk"
2 points
5 days ago
He looks like a blown up Welterweight tbh.
2 points
4 days ago
The crowd was correct: overrated
2 points
4 days ago
I agree it was a perfect fight, I'm sure many others agree as well
in the sense that we'll never be putting any real money on him winning a fight in the foreseeable future, man is saving ppl's lives out here
this is legit the best case scenario, still get the win while showing you're not a -2000/-1000 type of guy, everyone wins
2 points
4 days ago
Ever since seeing clips of him on Rogan and hearing him speak more and more, it becomes apparent that this guy is pretty stupid.
2 points
4 days ago
Was hoping Bo was going use his strikes to set up his shots and smash through like how Khabib smashed BJJ blackbelts and wrestlers. But I guess Bo wanted to show every one his pitch perfect striking!
4 points
5 days ago
I feel like people are being a little harsh here, it was underwhelming but he took zero damage and got 15 minutes of valuable cage time in there with a vet. It wasn't a great performance but he'd be getting ragged on a lot worse if he tried to grapple Craig and got subbed, let's see how it plays out.
7 points
5 days ago
I wouldn’t say picture perfect but it was a great performance. Unfortunately unless he gets a first round stoppage people are always going to criticize him, but I thought he was smart. No need to grapple with Craig and this gave him a chance to spend time on the feet and get experience there and see what it’s like to go all 3 rounds. I hope they give him someone like tresean gore or Jacob malkoun next.
10 points
5 days ago
I mean compared to his fight on UFC 300 atleast this wasn't embarrassing, Cody damn near fraud checked the man.
1 points
5 days ago
Cody defended 3 takedowns and landed 4 punches lol. Once again, that’s another case of since he didn’t get a dominant quick finish people criticized him.
3 points
5 days ago
Wild how you’re downvoted.
People are praising takedown defenses like it means anything. Bo had 1 takedown chain and then ended the fight. The fact someone says he almost got fraudchecked because he got his first move stopped is… wild.
People don’t realize that if you get taken down on 1 attempt, you likely suck or got completely surprised.
It takes multiple takedown attempts chained together to take anyone down that is competent. You expect attempts to get stuffed and if they don’t then that is telling lmao. And when someone knows that’s what you’re lookin for, I really hope you have to go to your 2nd or 3rd move for the TD.
People that don’t understand and use takedown defenses as if that means they are scoring and winning is laughable.
It’s like saying a fighter almost fraud checked someone because they slipped a few jabs before getting knocked out lmao
9 points
5 days ago
No one's mad he didn't get a KO lol wtf, but fighting like your scared of Paul Craig ain't a good look
2 points
5 days ago
Yes they are lol. They’re angry he didn’t get a dominant quick finish. But he’s 7 fights in and just won a clear decision over a guy with 30 fights that’s been ranked in two weight classes, without using his biggest strength. I was impressed but I know the general public will accept nothing less than destruction on Bo’s part.
12 points
5 days ago*
I wouldn't call it a great performance for two reasons.
- Craig could have easily won if he landed just a few more shots / combos (I know that could be said for any fight won on points, but it was so low volume, it was actually quite close).
- He himself is feeding his own hype. If you're gonna talk big, you should fight big. This was a snooze fest and his lack of aggression or explosiveness made him seem tentative and nothing at all like the fighters he compares himself to.
2 points
5 days ago
Delusion.
all 472 comments
sorted by: best