Nickal Challenges de Ridder to a Grappling Match
Bo Nickal called for a high-level grappling test against Reinier de Ridder before their UFC bout in Des Moines on May 3, 2025. The matchup became more than a prospect-versus-former-champion storyline: de Ridder stopped Nickal with knees at 1:53 of the second round. The UFC fighter record confirms the result and ended Nickal’s unbeaten start in the promotion.
Nickal entered with an elite collegiate wrestling background and a reputation for fast submissions. De Ridder brought championship experience from ONE Championship and his own strong grappling credentials. Their meeting therefore tested whether Nickal could impose his wrestling on an opponent who was comfortable in clinches and could threaten from multiple positions.
The first round was competitive, but de Ridder began to take control in the second. He hurt Nickal with knees during a close-range exchange and continued striking until the referee stopped the fight. The official method was TKO by knees, not a submission or decision. That finish marked de Ridder’s third consecutive UFC stoppage and gave him an important middleweight win.
Nickal’s loss did not erase his wrestling credentials, but it showed that elite grappling alone does not settle an MMA bout. Fighters must also manage distance, defense, clinch exchanges, and strikes. De Ridder’s win demonstrated how pressure and knees can punish an opponent whose entries become predictable, especially when he is forced to reset against the fence.
The bout took place on a card headlined by Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo in Des Moines. The UFC’s official recap described two rounds of exchanges before de Ridder shifted the momentum with his knees. The result helped elevate him toward the middleweight rankings, while Nickal faced a rebuilding phase after his first UFC defeat.
A proposed fight is only a test on paper; the actual match showed where the competitive edge lay. De Ridder found an opening in the second round and finished Nickal before the bout could reach the later grappling stages many expected. The verified record is a second-round TKO at 1:53, giving de Ridder the victory and ending Nickal’s unbeaten UFC run.
