MMA fans were expecting Bo Nickal to put on another dominating performance at UFC 285. Not coming off as a surprise to many, the Bo Nickal hype train continues as he secures a fairly easy arm-triangle submission win over his opponent, serving as the main card opener. But this victory came along with it’s fair share of controversy.
Bo Nickal on whether he landed a groin strike against Jamie Pickett pic.twitter.com/wWbvfdP0QI
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 5, 2023
Fans speculate there was a knee to Jamie’s cup during the fight, unintentional of course, which must have changed the course of the entire bout. While some fans argue that the result would have ended up in a similar fashion regardless, others claim this hurt Jamie’s chances of derailing the hype train, as a knee to the cup can really affect an athlete’s overall performance, depending on how bad it is.
Went back. Was definitely a really bad knee to the cup. Why aren’t the instant replay team looking at that immediately and telling Keith Peterson? Takedown should have been taken way.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) March 5, 2023
The fight started on the feet for the first few seconds of the 1st round, with Bo immediately going in for a head kick, which he misses and slips. Jamie immediately uses this opportunity to rush forward against Bo for the clinch. Nickal, being the elite wrestler that he is, goes straight for a front headlock and becomes successful at getting Pickett’s back.
Bo Nickal then gets an attempt at a rear-naked choke for a few seconds, only to transition to an arm-triangle-choke. Both the fighters spent a lot of time in this position on the ground as Pickett had his left arm under Bo’s left, which he appears to be using as a last option to survive the choke, eventually giving in to the submission and tapping. Pickett seemed to have tapped earlier but the referee didn’t seem to notice, a few seconds later the fight ends.
Fans react to groin shot by Bo Nickal at UFC 285
While some fans are already referring to Bo as the ‘American Chimaev’, many didn’t take long to take to express their anger over the ‘nut shot’. Bo is now 4-0 in the UFC and the MMA community already wants him to face the cream of the crop, Khamzat Chimaev and Alex Pereira comes to mind. While some think it is still too early for Bo to go up against the elite of the elite, others feel he doesn’t deserve a big name after tonight’s controversy.
He’s got a nasty nut shot game 😵💫
— Dalton Boyles (@Deeman_games) March 5, 2023
Absolutely no one on the broadcast calling attention to Bo Nickal’s nut shot lol
— TT (@trashthalk) March 5, 2023
Kneed him square in the penis. Should be no contest
— Rusty Palomino (@RustyPalomino) March 5, 2023
Pickett got done dirty lmao, I love how they just blatantly ignore the low blow.
— Nick 🌰 (@KingNickkin) March 5, 2023
How it didn’t get stopped after that knee to the balls was crazy. Fights have been stopped for less.
— issa__dad via Twitch (@BrionAhrens) March 5, 2023
Does this move affect Bo’s stock moving forward? or should he be fed directly to the wolves of the Middleweight division after this fight? Let us know in the comments down below.
Discussion about this post