UFC Champion Dricus Du Plessis Brutally Mocks Bo Nickal’s Skillset After Fraud Check: “It Was Satisfying”

Middeweight champ Dricus Du Plessis weighs in on unsuspecting Bo Nickal after UFC Des Moines loss vs. Reinier de Ridder.

UFC Champion Dricus Du Plessis Brutally Mocks Bo Nickal’s Skillset After Fraud Check: “It Was Satisfying”

Dricus Du Plessis pitches in against Bo Nickal after UFC Des Moines (Source: IMAGO/X)

Wrestling sensation Bo Nickal faced his first-career loss at UFC Des Moines. He was finished by rising new UFC middleweight Reinier de Ridder in this past weekend’s UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event. The PSU alum has never been short on confidence or the drive for smack talk. But now that he has had a taste of humble pie defeat, divisional champ Dricus Du Plessis has weighed in on it.

When it comes to holding the 185-pound crown or in smack talk, there’s no one quite like DDP just yet. As everyone witnessed it, Stillknocks knows to back it up, but Nickal failed in his own playground. Former ONE FC champ ‘RDR’ knew the ex-NCAA Division I champion wrestler, and intelligently dismantled him. Du Plessis recently talked about the fallout, with more emphasis on Nickal’s slightly overrated skillset.

I have no problem with Bo Nickal’s hype, …but I do have a problem with how he was talking about people who have done what he has never done…This is not wrestling, my good man — and he found out the hard way. The only thing that saves him in every fight is his wrestling, and now that one thing is not working for him — his takedowns are getting stuffed, and now he’s getting taken down because the other guy has more in the arsenal… It was satisfying to watch because you can’t just disrespect people who’ve done what you wish you could do. Bo Nickal gave up — he was broken mentally.

Dicus Du Plessis said on ‘The sias du plessis show’

Whether or not Nickal deserved harsh critique on this UFC Des Moines fadeout vs. Reinier de Ridder, Dricus Du Plessis had other issues. For example, the fighter has been talking the talk as been able to (supposedly) defeat the explosive Khamzat Chimaev.

It is not something one does that easily when a master of spatial management and a veteran fell to a nasty jaw crank! The Chechen fighter has been a proper reckoning, and Des Moines proved Nickal is not ready for that step.

Du Plessis, though, is the kingpin and has been ready for the Borz challenge for a while. So he knows what’s what. The current rumor mill has him facing the UFC 185-pound top seed soon, although not within the June frame for IFW festivities. Nickal, for his part, is taking in the backlash in his stride.

Unfazed by criticism, Bo Nickal says he was ‘naive’ in first career loss

Former freestyle wrestler, UFC middleweight, and golf buddy to POTUS, from Rifle, Colorado, U.S. – Bo Nickal has had his ups and downs. He started as quite the undefeated and unheralded prospect within the UFC ranks. However, his pre-fight attitude, often more than not, came off blazing.

Bo Nickal wasn't looking past Reinier de Ridder at UFC on ESPN 67
Bo Nickal wasn’t looking past Reinier de Ridder at UFC on ESPN 67 (Source: X)

Nickal touting pre-fight smack and big aspirations didn’t always match his wrestle-heavy fight style. The American fighter has slowly shifted to a striking game plan recently. He swiped out veteran Paul Craig on the UFC 309 PPV card, as such, but got billed as being overrated.

Many considered he sported the same mindset for UFC Des Moines. Bo Nickal insisted that he did not look past Reinier de Ridder, contrary to what many have billed.

Absolutely not. I don’t feel like I looked at RDR as somebody I was going to blow through, …I was looking at that as a really big test and a really big challenge. Of course, I’m confident. I don’t think anybody in my situation or my sport … we’re all confident guys. Knowing the danger of the fight going in, I thought there were a lot of opportunity and chances for me to have weaknesses of my game exposed, and that’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t really afraid of that going in.

Bo Nickal on “The Ariel Helwani Show”

Since joining the UFC, Nickal has made headlines for both his performance in the cage and some of his statements. This includes an audacious challenge to contender Chimaev after only a few ballot bouts into his career. This has been a source of criticism for many fans, especially after the loss. The fighter knows what it all means but has resolved to prove the naysayers wrong.

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