Bo Nickal is yet to truly be tested inside the Octagon. The 29-year-old Colorado native came into the UFC with a lot of hype, and for good reason. He dismantled two of his Contender Series opponents in the first round, submitting them. He did the same in his first two UFC appearances, submitting one and knocking the other out. AT UFC 300, he scored a 2nd round TKO over Cody Brundage. And all those wins came against relative no-names in the promotion. But his last fight? Well, that’s where people started to question his ability to dominate, especially against higher-level competition, Even though lost the fight, he made Paul Craig look good—on the feet, no less.
Now, the 29-year-old will be taking on former ONE Championship middleweight champion, Reinier de Ridder who has more than proved his mettle since debuting in the UFC—at UFC Fight Night 256. His last fight was a far cry from Nickal’s, where de Ridder submitted Kevin Holland in the first round at UFC 311. Could this fight be a tough one for Nickal? Well, a former UFC fighter doesn’t think so.
The fight between Bo Nickal and Reinier de Ridder will probably be the one where we truly get to see what Nickal is made up of. While the American prospect is yet to get his hands on a proper MMA world championship, The Dutch de Ridder is a vastly experienced and pretty seasoned fighter who staked his claim on the ONE Championship middleweight belt on two separate occasions. So our NCAA division-1 fighter definitely has his hands full with this upcoming fight.
Despite the impressive resume of Reinier de Ridder, UFC welterweight legend Jorge Masvidal highly doubts his chances of getting the better of Bo Nickal. The 29-year-old prospect shared the news of his upcoming fight on Instagram to hype up his fans and followers by simply stating, “See y’all in Iowa.” Masvidal soon followed, entering the comments section and giving Nickal his vote of confidence, deeming the de Ridder fight as “easy money” for the undefeated fighter.
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Reinier de Ridder has actually had Bo Nickal in his sights since late last year, even before the American fighter fought Paul Craig. In fact, he was one of two fighters the Dutchman named, along with surging middleweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev. “[Fighting] Khamzat and Bo Nickal would both be amazing. [Nickal] might be a nice next step.,” de Ridder stated during an interview with MMA Fighting. Clearly, de Ridder is shooting for the star.
Meanwhile, fan sentiment surrounding this matchup is the complete opposite of what Jorge Masvidal had to say. They actually predict Bo Nickal losing to the high-level grappling operator. Here’s what they had to say.
Fans claim that Bo Nickal will get ‘fraud checked’
Despite having just a few Octagon scrambles under his belt, Reinier de Ridder seems to be the fans’ pick to win at Des Moines. It’s been established that Bo Nickal is a pretty polarizing personality on the current UFC roster and fans make it apparent when they express their displeasure with the prospect even after winning a fight. But these recent reactions from the fans don’t seem as if they stem from their feelings about the 29-year-old. They actually think that de Ridder will indeed “fraud check” the prospect at UFC Des Moines.
The most obvious point that they made was the experience of Reinier de Ridder, as we’ve mentioned already. He’s got triple the amount of fights that Bo Nickal has under his belt. His championship wins in the UFC’s rival promotion are one of the biggest reasons why fans are heavily leaning towards the Dutchman to edge past the younger, inexperienced Nickal. Nevertheless, Nickal is well aware of his critics and their criticisms, and he understands that the only way to shut them up is by coming up with a brilliant performance against de Ridder.
It must be a good feeling to have the backing of a UFC legend, such as Jorge Masvidal because every fight is important at this stage for Bo Nickal. What are your predictions for the middleweight showdown at Des Moines? Drop your comments below.
The post “Easy Money” – Bo Nickal Gets UFC Legend’s Unexpected Backing to Beat 2X Former ONE Champ Reinier de Ridder appeared first on EssentiallySports.
