Dricus du Plessis: Bo Nickal 'gave up' in UFC Des Moines loss |
05/13/2025 03:00 PM -
Dricus du Plessis was tuned in to the reality check Bo Nickal recently received.
Heading into UFC Des Moines, Nickal had a spotless 7-0 pro MMA record and the pedigree of a three-time NCAA wrestling champion. He was a favorite over the more experienced Reinier de Ridder, but it was de Ridder who emerged victorious via second-round knockout after hurting Nickal with a knee to the body.
Du Plessis wasn't surprised to see de Ridder hand Nickal his first loss and he believes the schadenfreude surrounding Nickal's defeat has as much to do with how he built himself up as to how he conducted himself in the cage.
"With Bo, I mean he's only had four fights, I think five fights in the UFC," du Plessis said on The Sias du Plessis Show. "You've got to be careful how you talk in this game. You start talking when you get there. The guys that he fought, he's fought nobodies. In terms of being able to talk and then going and saying 'the championship fight was shit,' 'these guys can't wrestle,' 'that's not that impressive, that win.' Humble pie does wonderful things for a man and I think he got served four pies, full pies. I'm just saying, it was satisfying to watch because you can't just disrespect the people who've done what you wish you could do and I think for this, he had this aura of 'I am champion. Nobody can wrestle me. I can out-wrestle anybody' and he was talking about wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. This is not wrestling.
"This is fighting and, in my honest opinion, that knee, it was a proper knee, Bo Nickal gave up. Bo Nickal was broken mentally. That's why he took a knee. He wasn't dropped by the knee, the knee caught him and it was a good knee, but if you're getting downed by knees like that, good luck at the top because the shots are a lot harder."
During his rise up the ranks, Nickal spoke confidently of his abilities and even suggested he'd make easy work of top contenders like Khamzat Chimaev. Instead, he showed his inexperience in matchups with Paul Craig and Cody Brundage, two wins in which Nickal was far from perfect.
Du Plessis believes Nickal learned there's a lot more to this game than being one of the world's best in a single discipline.
"I have no problem with Bo Nickal's hype," du Plessis said. "What I do have a problem with was he was talking about people who have done what he's never done. He became a three-time NCAA champion if I'm not mistaken. Well, this is not wrestling, my good man, and he found that out the hard way.
"I think he thought he was going to walk through Reinier. I thought Reinier had a beautiful game plan. What I like about Reinier de Ridder, I think he's going to be a problem, I think he's a very good fighter."
De Ridder, a former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, improved to 3-0 in the UFC with the upset win. Du Plessis was effusive in his praise for "The Dutch Knight," especially considering he proved to be the superior fighter on the ground as well as on the feet.
When Nickal failed to dominate with his wrestling in the opening round of the fight, that's when du Plessis knew he was in trouble.
"[De Ridder] switched around, got Bo down, and Bo Nickal, as soon as they got up, he looked gassed, he looked like a fish out of water," du Plessis said. "Because now the only thing that saves him in every fight is his wrestling and now that one thing is not working for you. Now the takedown's getting stuffed, now you're getting taken down, and you have a guy with more in the arsenal because [Nickal's] striking is terrible. He's not a great grappler, he's a great wrestler."
