November 17, 2024 12:04 am ET
Bo Nickal now is aware of what it’s prefer to go the space in an expert MMA bout and was “fired up” about his efficiency, though the New York crowd disagreed.
Nickal (7-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) stepped into the cage at UFC 309 inside Madison Sq. Backyard to face the hardest take a look at of his profession but, Paul Craig. The middleweight bout went the space, and Nickal recorded the primary unanimous resolution (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) win of his profession by shutting out Craig (17-9-1 MMA, 9-9-1 UFC).
With the group chanting “U-S-A” to start the combat, Nickal calmly moved ahead, finding out Craig’s motion. Leg kicks have been Nickal’s first weapon of alternative. Craig responded with a strong leg kick of his personal, after which looked for a couple of head and physique kicks.
Nickal darted out and in with overhand punches because the opening spherical continued, trying to land an enormous haymaker. Craig stayed gentle on his ft, persevering with to supply kicks with out setups. Craig talked and taunted Nickal early in Spherical 2, but it surely didn’t trigger a deviation in Nickal’s strategy. The overhand darts continued from Nickal when he noticed the opening, whereas Craig saved providing single kicks at a time. Within the last minute, Nickal linked with a clear left hand upstairs to quiet the few boo birds that started chirping.
Within the third, the fighters gave the impression to be having enjoyable within the cage, regardless that the group wasn’t loving the motion. At one level, Nickal utterly froze for a couple of seconds, after which smiled after Craig didn’t react.
Nickal would get again to his offense although, and he cracked Craig with an enormous overhand left, opening a minimize on the appropriate eye. Though Craig appeared rocked, Nickal didn’t hunt too arduous for a end.
The MSG followers weren’t joyful after the Nickal-Craig combat 😳 #UFC309 pic.twitter.com/baO6lgsmHX
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 17, 2024
Whereas the group expressed their displeasure with Nickal’s efficiency, the standout wrestler, who coincidentally didn’t try a single takedown within the combat, stated he was “fired up” concerning the combat.
Nickal, 28, had by no means reached the scorecards earlier than, and in reality, by no means noticed a 3rd spherical earlier than UFC 309. He seen the combat as a studying and rising expereince whereas remaining undefeated.
Craig, 36, was a strong take a look at for Nickal, however now walks away as a loser of three straight fights.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 309 outcomes embrace:
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