‘Overrated!’… Bo Nickal showered with boos despite earning biggest win of his career at UFC 309

On By Littum

Bo Nickal’s career-best victory at UFC 309 was not well received by the Madison Square Garden crowd.

Bo Nickal outpointed veteran Paul Craig for the biggest win of his career at UFC 309. Despite digging deep to defeat Craig over three rounds, Nickal was mercilessly booed by the Madison Square Garden crowd, except for US President-elect Donald Trump and a few bits of others.

Nickal walked away with a unanimous decision victory to remain undefeated in his professional MMA career. The former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler is considered by many MMA analysts as a once-in-a-generation prospect.

Bo Nickal
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Nickal took a unique approach away from wrestling against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Craig. Instead of using his elite grappling, Nickal decided to make it a standup match, but his activity level was not to the audience’s liking.

Nickal had repeated success with his straight-right as the fight progressed, doing significant damage to Craig late on. He staggered Craig badly in the closing minutes before hitting the brakes on his volume.

Boo birds reign after Bo Nickal’s UFC 309 victory

The UFC 309 broadcast team was split on how to score Nickal vs. Craig because of the handful of slow moments in the match. But Nickal walked away with the win and enjoyed a brief cageside conversation with Trump.

Moments before, Nickal was the target of ‘Overrated’ chants from the crowd as he edged closer to securing victory over Craig.

Nickal is just six fights into his MMA career after transitioning from a decorated collegiate wrestling stint. He got an invitation to Dana White’s Contender series after just one professional fight, a 33-second knockout at Jorge Masvidal’s iKON FC 3.

Despite his lack of experience with his striking, Nickal chose the unconventional approach for UFC 309. His striking-first approach was likely due to the threat on the ground that Craig possesses.

Bo Nickal’s rapid rise hits a speed bump at UFC 309

Nickal came into UFC 309 undefeated in his professional MMA career with three wins inside the Octagon. Most recently, he defeated Cody Brundage by second-round submission at UFC 300.

After two quick finishes on DWCSNickal made his long-awaited UFC debut last year at UFC 285. He needed just minutes to knock out Jamie Pickett with an arm-triangle choke.

Nickal has a future matchup with top UFC middleweight contender Khamzat Chimaev in his sights. But his UFC 309 performance could further delay his pursuit of the middleweight championship.

Despite his elite skills, Nickal is still relatively inexperienced in MMA, but fans are growing impatient with his sometimes slow style.

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