Bo Nickal suffers first career loss in UFC, gets TKO’d by Reinier de Ridder

Nickal’s MMA record fell to 7-1 overall and he is now 4-1 in the UFC. Ridder came into the fight ranked No. 13 at middleweight, giving the former Nittany Lion his first ranked opponent.

Olympic gold medalist and former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo commented on Nickal’s loss. He was confident in a bounce back performance whenever Nickal is back in action.

“The wrestling world has taken a hit today,” Cejudo wrote on Twitter. “Keep your head up (Bo Nickal) this is not the end. I got finished by Demetrious Johnson with a similar body shot and I went on to avenge that loss and become champion. You are capable of doing the same. Get back on your horse brother.”

Going into the fight, Nickal mentioned what it would take to fight for the middleweight title. At 7-0, Nickal was still raw in MMA but mentioned that he wanted a ranked fight next, which resulted in Saturday’s matchup.

“I got to talk with the UFC about that,” Nickal said when asked if any opponent’s name comes to mind. “And talk with the coaches. I think that I just want to continue to fight better and better guys. I want to start approaching the rankings here soon. It’s funny because once you get in the rankings you don’t really need to fight, like there’s 15 guys ranked. I don’t need to fight 15 guys to get to the belt right? Only need to fight two or three.

“If I fight a ranked guy then it’s feasible that within six months I’m fighting for the belt. So I think that I want to get maybe one or two more guys that are a little bit better, right outside of the rankings and then maybe early next year, start (fighting) ranked guys. And then maybe 2025, fight for the belt. So that’s kind of where I see it going.”

Nickal attempted to make the USA Olympic Wrestling Team in 2021, but fell short of a team spot to fellow former Penn State national champion David Taylor, who went on to win a gold medal. Nickal fully turned his attention to MMA, opening up an American Top Team gym near Penn State’s campus, training regularly with UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal in the beginning.

In his four seasons at Penn State, Nickal compiled a 120-3 record, won three NCAA titles (two at 184 pounds and one at 197 pounds), was a four-time All-American (national finalist in 2016 at 174 pounds) and finished his career on a 67-match winning streak.