‘Overrated’ Bo Nickal Disappointed by Cormier’s Pro-Khamzat Commentary During UFC 309 Fight
Bo Nickal was proud of the performance he delivered at UFC 309. Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed watching it.
Nickal’s return to the Octagon on Saturday night was a bit of a mixed bag. Sure, the three-time NCAA Division I national champion earned a fairly decisive victory, moving to 7-0 in his mixed martial arts career, but he definitely didn’t make any new fans with the lackluster performance. Instead of utilizing his world-class wrestling, Nickal opted to keep the fight standing and show off his evolution as a well-rounded fighter.
It was a bold move and one that proved to pay off, but the lack of fireworks — or really anything of note — had fans relentlessly booing Nickal and dubbing him overrated.
The commentary team wasn’t exactly kind to Nickal either. Especially Daniel Cormier who made his thoughts on Nickal’s performance and his chances against someone like Khamzat Chimaev quite clear.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Nickal snapped back at the negative comments by the UFC 309 commentary team and defended his decision to stand and trade with Craig.
“When I watched the fight back, something that was a little disappointing was the commentary and just kinda hearing the way they were looking at the fight,” Nickal said. “It made me feel like they didn’t really know what was going on. Anybody that I’ve talked to, the people that I trust and shoot straight with me, they’re like, ‘Dude, you shut that guy out, total domination, it was a flawless victory’” (h/t MMA Mania).
Truth be told, Nickal’s victory was far from dominant. According to the UFC Stats website, Nickal only landed six more total strikes than Craig throughout the 15-minute affair, but landed at a significantly higher clip, connecting on 63% of his strikes while ‘Bearjew’ only landed 37% of his.
However, Craig also threw 45 more total strikes than Nickal, so clearly he was the busier fighter on the night.
Dana White acknowledges that Bo Nickal Still ‘Needs Work’
Daniel Cormier and the MSG crowd weren’t the only ones critical of Nickal’s performance. During the post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White acknowledged that the former Nittany Lion still needs a lot of work before he can achieve his lofty goals.
“Well, you know, we’ve had these discussions with Bo. Bo needs work,” White told the media. “Bo is an up-and-coming guy. I know he has big aspirations and wants to move faster than he should. But, tonight showed that — I mean, he still dominated, he won the whole fight — but he’s got work to do. It’s alright, we’ll move him. When you’re in a position like Bo is, there’s a lot of expectations.”
