Las Vegas, NV — Wrestling standout Bo Nickal’s promotional debut at UFC 285 went according to plan, in terms of the result at least.
Nickal made short work of Jamie Pickett in the pair’s middleweight match-up, which opened up Saturday’s Pay-Per-View card.
The end result was an arm-triangle submission win for Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I champion who also claimed gold at the U.S. National Championships and Under 23 World Championships.
What wasn’t expected was what appeared to be a low blow landing on Pickett prior to Nickal’s takedown — an alleged foul that Pickett’s team has signalled they will appeal.
“That’s weird, bro,” Nickal replied what informed of the potential appeal following the fight. He also told media outlets including Cageside Press that he did not believe he had fouled Pickett.
“No, no I don’t. I think, honestly, I know exactly what happened. I hit him in the leg, in the thigh, and I had him in a bad position on the wall. He wanted to get off the wall, and he wanted the ref to stop it,” Nickal recalled. “Which, if I would have actually hit him low, I would feel bad, because I don’t want to win that way. I’m not a cheater, I’m not somebody that tries to take shortcuts.”
“If I did hit him low, I would have relaxed probably, or just let the ref stop it,” continued Nickal. “But I didn’t hit him low at all.”
“It’s a weird move, bro,” he finished.
Whether Pickett’s team goes through with the planned appeal, and whether it’s successful, remains to be seen. Historically, athletic commissions have been loathe to overturn results in cases of alleged fouls, unless absolutely blatant and fight-altering.
Nickal also compared the nerves and experience of competing for a wrestling championship at Penn State, and fighting inside the octagon in an arena full of fans.
“It’s very similar. I would say it’s kind of the same thing, just scaled up,” he told Cageside Press. “The UFC, I truly believe there’s no organization and no platform like it, that’s able to put events together like this. For me to be part of this in my fourth pro fight, at 27-years old and only training a year and a half, is such an amazing thing.”
Watch the full UFC 285 post-fight press conference with Bo Nickal above.
