Middleweight contender Dricus du Plessis offered his perspective on the recent setback suffered by highly touted prospect Bo Nickal.
Leading up to his fight at UFC Des Moines, Bo Nickal boasted a perfect 7-0 professional MMA record and an impressive background as a three-time NCAA wrestling champion. He was widely favored to defeat the more seasoned Reinier de Ridder. However, it was de Ridder who emerged victorious, securing a second-round knockout after landing a damaging knee to the body.
Du Plessis stated he wasn`t surprised by de Ridder handing Nickal his first career loss. He suggested that the satisfaction many felt regarding Nickal`s defeat was a reaction both to how Nickal promoted himself and his demeanor during the fight.
“With Bo, I mean he’s only had four fights, I think five fights in the UFC,” du Plessis remarked 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.”
Du Plessis continued, expressing satisfaction in witnessing the outcome because, in his view, “you can’t just disrespect the people who’ve done what you wish you could do.” He felt Nickal carried an air of invincibility, particularly concerning his wrestling, constantly emphasizing his grappling prowess. Yet, du Plessis reminded, “This is not wrestling. This is fighting.”
Analyzing the finish, du Plessis offered a strong opinion. He acknowledged the knee de Ridder threw was significant but argued Nickal was not truly dropped by it. Instead, du Plessis believes, “Bo Nickal gave up. Bo Nickal was broken mentally. That’s why he took a knee.” He warned that if Nickal is affected by such shots, he would struggle against the harder strikes thrown by top-level fighters.
During his ascent, Nickal spoke with great confidence about his abilities, even suggesting he could easily handle top contenders like Khamzat Chimaev. However, his earlier victories against Paul Craig and Cody Brundage revealed moments of inexperience and imperfection.
Du Plessis concluded that Nickal likely learned a tough lesson: success in MMA requires more than just being elite in a single discipline.
“I have no problem with Bo Nickal’s hype,” du Plessis clarified. “What I do have a problem with was he was talking about people who have done what he’s never done… this is not wrestling, my good man, and he found that out the hard way.”
He anticipated that Reinier de Ridder would be a challenging opponent for Nickal and commended de Ridder`s strategic approach, calling him “a very good fighter” and someone “going to be a problem” in the division.
De Ridder, a former two-division champion in ONE Championship, improved his UFC record to 3-0 with this upset win. Du Plessis praised “The Dutch Knight” extensively, noting his performance demonstrated superiority not only standing but also in grappling exchanges.
For du Plessis, a key moment signaling Nickal was in trouble was when he failed to impose his dominant wrestling in the opening round.
“[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 described. He explained that Nickal`s usual lifeline—his wrestling—was neutralized, with takedowns being defended or him being taken down himself. This exposed his limitations against a fighter with a more diverse skill set, as du Plessis believes Nickal`s striking is “terrible” and his grappling outside of pure wrestling is not top-tier.
