Despite a chorus of boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd for the lack of sustained action and even chants of “overrated,” former three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion Bo Nickal took an important step forward on Saturday in his burgeoning MMA career.
Nickal (7-0) never attempted a single takedown over three rounds against veteran Paul Craig (17-9-1) but landed the cleaner shots on his feet en route to a tactical victory by unanimous decision at UFC 309 in New York. The 28-year-old collegiate legend from Penn State took home scores of 30-27 from all three judges despite the crowd’s displeasure after three close yet clear rounds.
“Honestly, I feel great. I went out there and I dominated for 15 minutes,” Nickal said. “These guys want to see blood. They expect me to knock everybody out in 25 seconds or choke them out in a minute. The reality is, these guys are all professional fighters and have been training over a decade. I’ve been in this for two and a half or three years. I’m fired up about this performance. I thought that was an amazing performance.”
Nickal went the three-round distance for the first time as a professional and sealed a close final round when his looping left hand stunned Craig, a 36-year-old native of Scotland, and cut him under the right eye.
Despite entering as a 12-to-1 betting favorite, Nickal took his time and care to outpoint the limited striking of Craig as he focused his offense almost exclusively on calf kicks and jabs to the body from distance.
“I dominated him and I cut him,” Nickal said. “I think if there were two more rounds, I would’ve eventually got the finish but I was happy with it. Let’s look at the greatest fighters of all-time: Jon Jones, Khabib [Nurmagomedov], “GSP” [Georges St-Pierre], “Mighty Mouse” [Demetrious Johnson]. They are winning decisions over tough guys. Craig has 26 pro fights and I have six. I whipped him for 15 minutes and I’m fired up.”
Craig fought well, particularly defensively, despite entering the bout having been finished in two of three fights since moving down to 185 pounds in July 2023. But the submission expert never got the chance to test his guard on the ground against Nickal’s wrestling and largely focused on body kicks to stay close in all three rounds.
The loss puts Craig’s UFC future in question, however, as he fell to 1-5 in his last six outings.