Bo Nickal had an incredible start to his MMA career, racking up seven straight wins with six finishes.
It helped that he was fighting warm bodies and rusty tomato cans, but the promotion saw enough from the NCAA Division-1 National Wrestling Champion to put him on the middleweight fast track.
Then came a blowout at UFC Des Moines, thanks to the superior skillset of Reinier de Ridder.
“He was moving a bit too fast,” coach Mike Brown told MMA Fighting. “We all knew it. He knew it. I knew it. We all knew it. Management
knew it. But he was also was getting paid very well. You’re not going to get the big bucks if you’re fighting guys on the prelims. If you’re getting bigger paychecks, then they’re going to push you and not give you layups. Experience is so much in this sport. Experience is everything.”
Nickal (8-1) returned to form by knocking out Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 322.
“It’s not a fight I necessarily wanted 100 percent,” Brown said about de Ridder. “There are other guys I would have rather had. De Ridder just showed that he’s better than a lot of people in that division. He’s capable of big things. He’s got more experience than Bo and it showed. That’s the fight game. In this game, everybody loses or 99.9 percent of every great UFC fighter loses.”
There’s always that .01 percent.
The 29 year-old Nickal is not booked for UFC at the moment but is expected to face former UFC middleweight title challenger and Olympic medalist Yoel Romero under the Real American Freestyle (RAF) banner at RAF05 on Sat. night (Jan. 10, 2026) inside Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
One of few UFC veterans willing to face “Soldier of God.”
