Acclaimed wrestler suffered first MMA loss to Reinier de Ridder
Aljamain Sterling thinks Bo Nickal is too small for the UFC middleweight division.
Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) suffered his first career loss when he was stopped by Reinier de Ridder in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Sterling, who also comes from a wrestling background, noticed that Nickal was overpowered by De Ridder, before he was folded from a body shot in Round 2. Sterling thinks the standout wrestler needs to drop down to welterweight.
“I hate that I was right but the size disparity for Nickal at 185 is very apparent,” Sterling said on X.
Nickal revealed that he added on mass for this training camp which resulted in having to cut around 37 pounds entering fight week to make the non-title middleweight limit of 186 pounds. Although Nickal had a big weight cut, Sterling believes he could make 170 pounds.
“I wrestled 133 then 141,” Sterling said in another post on X. “Somehow, I magically was able to make 135. Bonus a middleweight but the top 15 MWs are noticeably bigger than him in the cage. Even Brundage looked bigger.”
UFC analyst Alan Jouban agreed with Sterling, and the former UFC bantamweight champion says Nickal needs to sit down with his American Top Team and seriously contemplate the potential move down.
“Anyone saying otherwise needs to really have their eyes checked,” Sterling said. “I’m a huge wrestling and Nickal fan, but that conversation needs to be had and it’s not an easy choice by any means.”
