The lights were blinding as UFC came to the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 3. The man in the spotlight? Bo Nickal, former Penn State mat maestro and current mixed martial artist with a 7-0 unbeaten record. With a wrestling record worth wearing glasses for and three NCAA titles, everyone thought that we would soon see the records read 8-0. But by the time the referee stopped the match, it wasn’t 8-0; it was 7-1. The man behind that 1? Reinier De Ridder. And the fans weren’t too happy. But can we blame them?
After all, how did a guy with such an amazing background end up getting upset like that? Nickal’s path to this point had been pretty wild. He was a total star at Penn State, racking up national titles and becoming a legend in their wrestling program. When he switched to MMA, he quickly made his mark in the UFC, winning seven fights in a row, including two just to get into the promotion.
His style was heavy on wrestling, but his striking was getting better, and fans and experts were already talking about him being a future middleweight champion. But facing Reinier de Ridder, a guy who used to hold two titles in another big promotion called ONE Championship, Nickal was in for a different kind of test. So, what went down in that octagon?
Reminder to extremely low IQ people saying hype train derailed.
It’s the UFC. Top fighters lose all the time and come back stronger. Bo needs to be more active. You can get better in the practice room but actual experience under the bright lights is the best teacher. https://t.co/adV3O4YyqG
— FightOracle (@fightoracle) May 4, 2025
The fight was the co-main event at UFC Des Moines. It was Bo Nickal versus de Ridder, a 34-year-old from the Netherlands nicknamed “The Dutch Knight,” who was also undefeated in the UFC at 2-0 after submitting guys like Kevin Holland. Still, most people were betting big on Nickal; the odds showed everyone thought his wrestling would shut down de Ridder’s ground game, leading to another easy win for Bo.
But the first round was tough for Nickal—he just couldn’t get his wrestling going, and de Ridder was defending well. Then, barely two minutes into the second round, everything changed in a flash. What exactly was the moment that turned the whole fight around? It happened at 3:22 of the second round. De Ridder landed a knee, just perfectly placed to Nickal’s body—a nasty shot that hit his liver.
Nickal crumpled to the mat, clearly in agony, and he couldn’t recover. The referee, Herb Dean, stepped in and stopped it. Reinier de Ridder got the TKO victory, and just like that, Bo Nickal had his first professional loss. De Ridder’s official record improved to 3-0 in the UFC, while Nickal’s fell to 7-1. De Ridder even got an extra $50,000 bonus for his performance—that shows you just how big the upset was. But now, even after this loss, everyone’s standing for Bo Nickal and defending him despite all odds.
Bo Nickal fans fight back for their Star
The big moment at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 3, 2025, went from a roar to a shocked hush. That 7-1 record now looks a little different, and it immediately set off a mix of people online—some straight-up mocking Nickal, while his wrestling crew and loyal fans quickly jumped to his defense. So, why did this loss get people so worked up in completely different ways?
For a lot of fans, the upset was a total shocker. Some fans on X were super quick to push back hard; one fan tweeted a reminder to people with “extremely low IQ” that “It’s the UFC. Top fighters lose all the time and come back stronger.” What else did people say to stick up for Nickal? The wrestling community, known for really sticking together, wasted no time defending their guy.
A fan captured how many felt, saying, “Wish Bo learned this lesson a different way, but that’s the way this game goes sometimes.” Nickal’s supporters were quick to point out that he’s still young and has tons of potential. One fan on X simply noted, “Bo is still young,” making the point that at 29, he’s got plenty of time to improve.
Others doubled down on being optimistic, adding that Bo “needs to be more active. You can get better in the practice room, but experience under the bright lights is the best teacher.” But was there something else about the matchup that fans felt helped explain why it went down the way it did? Yeah, a big thing people talked about was the size difference they saw.
One X user tweeted, “RDR is light heavy and Bo is welter,” suggesting de Ridder felt bigger because he’d fought at 205 pounds before, compared to Nickal at 185 pounds. Now, Nickal has never actually fought at 170 pounds in his pro career, but the point was that de Ridder, with his history fighting bigger guys, might have just been physically larger that night.
This idea made some fans feel more sympathetic towards Nickal, feeling like the loss wasn’t entirely his fault because of the size factor. How did fans generally talk about Nickal’s defeat beyond just the technical fight details? Past the punches and knees, fans also got annoyed at how some people reacted culturally to Nickal’s loss.
Some observed, “It’s like the boxing fans are coming to the UFC and see one loss and think a fighter is done,” highlighting a difference in how fans view losses in the two sports. In the UFC, especially for younger fighters like Nickal (this was only his eighth pro fight), losing is often seen as a normal part of learning. The harsh criticism seemed to ignore this reality.
This led to more personal defenses, like one saying, “I don’t agree with the Bo Nickal hate. The guy seems cool enough; he just needs to get back in the gym and improve his game.” So, what does all this support mean for Nickal moving forward? With fans and experts alike saying he needs more time in the cage and to get back to training, Nickal’s path seems pretty clear.
The big question now is: can he use all this support to fuel a comeback that shuts down the critics? For everyone watching, the next chapter in Nickal’s career is going to be interesting. How will he look when he steps back into the octagon?
The post Wrestling Community Jumps to Bo Nickal’s Defense After UFC Star Mocked After Being Handed First Defeat appeared first on EssentiallySports.
