It was quite surprising when Bo Nickal got a spot on UFC 300’s main card, while several former champions were relegated down to the prelims and early prelims. Still, Nickal did not take such criticism to heart and managed to get a decisive victory against Cody Brundage. However, that wasn’t enough to satisfy Robert Whittaker who talked about the “holes” in Nickal’s game on a recent episode of the ‘MMArcade Podcast’
Nickal had only two UFC fights under his belt before stepping into the UFC 300 octagon. At the same time, the 29-year-old also held a 100% finish rate in them with two first-round finishes. Interestingly, the UFC 300 bout became his first fight that headed into the second stanza.
Whittaker’s reception of the Nickal vs. Brundage fight became clear when he began talking about it with an “I don’t care.” ‘The Reaper’ also criticized Nickal’s overall in-octagon performance at UFC 300, saying,
“I think we saw some potential holes in Bo Nickal’s game. He finally got a guy that he couldn’t just do what he wanted with.”
Although Nickal’s victory over Cody Brundage was excellent by UFC standards, the Colorado Native appeared to share Whittaker’s opinion. In fact, he could be seen visibly disappointed after the bout.
Bo Nickal appears to mirror Robert Whittaker’s opinion
Nickal dominated his opponents right from the referee’s signal in his previous in-octagon encounters. The pressure eventually got too much to handle and both his opponents bowed out in the first round itself. However, his fight at UFC 300 had a different story.
Although the undefeated UFC middleweight managed to win the first round, Brundage presented much more resistance than his previous rivals. As a matter of fact, Nickal was seen giving the thumbs-down after his second-round victory, and his in-octagon interview served as the biggest indicator of his dissatisfaction.
Both Whittaker and Nickal expressed disappointment regarding the latter’s UFC 300 performance. Hence, they might also be on the same page regarding the upgrades Nickal should focus on since he will be taking on rivals with better ranks now.
