Latest news with #UFConESPN67
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Luke Rockhold: Bo Nickal looked for way out at UFC on ESPN 67, 'really a p*ssy at heart'
Luke Rockhold: Bo Nickal looked for way out at UFC on ESPN 67, 'really a p*ssy at heart' Luke Rockhold thinks rising UFC contender Bo Nickal is not a real fighter. Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) hasn't received much sympathy from the MMA community after suffering his first-career loss to Reinier de Ridder in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Add former UFC middleweight champion Rockhold to the list of people piling on Nickal. "This kid Bo 'Nicole' is pretty pathetic," Rockhold told Submission Radio. "Talking a big game he was, but he was looking for a way out from the first round on. The kid just needs to shut up. I think Bo just quit like a little b*tch. It was kind of pathetic to see a kid talk all this game. There's such a thing as competitors. Wrestlers can be competitors, but they cannot be fighters all the time. This kid is not a fighter. He's a competitor, and he's really a p*ssy at heart." When asked if he had any advice for Nickal, Rockhold insisted that the standout wrestler doesn't have what it takes to be an elite fighter. "Grow a pair, red-headed step child," Rockhold said. "He doesn't have it. He ain't going to have it. Even if he stuck to wrestling, he doesn't have the wherewithal on the ground to put people away. The degree at the top is different."
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Petr Yan willing to face rising bantamweight if Cory Sandhagen rejects UFC title eliminator
Petr Yan willing to face rising bantamweight if Cory Sandhagen rejects UFC title eliminator Petr Yan is eager to stay active in his pursuit to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title. Yan (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) called out Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) after Sandhagen defeated Deiveson Figueiredo in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 67 main event in Des Moines, Iowa. Sandhagen wants a title shot next, but Yan pitched a title eliminator instead. Sandhagen lost to Yan in their interim title fight at UFC 267 in October 2021. Yan wasn't able to reclaim his bantamweight title when he lost to Aljamain Sterling a second time, which resulted in a three-fight losing skid. However, Yan has now won back-to-back fights over Song Yadong and Figueiredo, and doesn't like Sandhagen asking for a title shot after just one win. "Last fight with Umar, Cory lost," Yan told Submission Radio. "If you remember my fight with Cory, 2021, I beat him too, and after I lose fight, I won two fights. Won two (against) good fighters. Song Yadong, he's a top fighter, same Figueiredo. I believe title fight (is next). If Cory wants to fight, we can do a rematch with him, same time, July in Abu Dhabi, Fight Night. I can give him a rematch, and we will know who deserves the title fight." If not Sandhagen, Yan is willing to fight anyone who will get him back to a title fight. He was asked about rumors surrounding a fight with rising bantamweight Marcus McGhee. "It's not fake," Yan said of rumors of McGhee. "I want to be active in my sport career, I want to fight. We tried to fight in Azerbaijan with Umar (Nurmagomedov). When he have injury, he can't fight in June, July. His team don't talk nothing. They team Khabib talk, he will be ready only October. I can't wait until October. October will be one year I don't fight. I want to fight June, July, I will be ready. ... I will fight with McGhee. If he ready, we can do it. We can do big fight, big show. "If Cory doesn't want to find out who really deserves the next shot in a fight, which I really doubt that he wants because he remembered what happened in the last fight, last time before his last fight, he was telling that he's better, but what happens? He had to stand up from the canvas in that fight. So of course, if no one else is available or no one else wants it, I will fight someone who who wants, and if it's McGhee, then it's McGhee. I want to stay active, and I want to prove with my actions that I'm the one who deserves to fight for the belt, not just by winning one fight and just waiting for it for the shot."
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 6: Cory Sandhagen enters top 5
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 6: Cory Sandhagen enters top 5 Last weekend, UFC on ESPN 67 took place in Des Moines, Iowa. The event prompted moves in multiple weight classes. The event featured a bantamweight showdown between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. The fight came to an abrupt ending in the second round after Sandhagen injured Figueiredo's knee in a grappling exchange. Entering the week at No. 6, Sandhagen's performance changed up the rankings, and he now holds the No. 5 spot, while Figueiredo keeps his No. 11 placement. Reinier de Ridder entered the week at No. 15, but after a big win over an undefeated Bo Nickal, the former ONE champ lands at No. 12. Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Reinier de Ridder confident he could beat Khamzat Chimaev after finishing Bo Nickal
Reinier de Ridder confident he could beat Khamzat Chimaev after finishing Bo Nickal Show Caption Hide Caption UFC Des Moines: Reinier de Ridder post-fight interview UFC on ESPN 67 winner Reinier de Ridder talks to reporters post-fight after his second-round TKO of Bo Nickal in Des Moines, Iowa. Reinier de Ridder sees a fight with Khamzat Chimaev materializing soon. De Ridder (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) handed Bo Nickal his first-career loss in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The former ONE dual-champion called out Sean Strickland after the fight and sees another big name potentially on the horizon. He believes he can become the first to crack the code of elite grappler Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC). "That's one that I see happening pretty quickly," De Ridder told Submission Radio. "We've had some rounds together. I think I have a good shot in a fight (with Chimaev). What makes him special is the aggression that he comes out with. "I think a lot of people get overwhelmed by how explosive he comes out and how hard he chases the back right away. That's mostly what makes him so dangerous. We've seen a lot from him already, we've seen him go the distance a couple of times." De Ridder just took out a standout wrestler in Nickal. He was ready wherever the fight went but knew the battle would be won in the clinch – and that's where De Ridder was able to overpower Nickal and eventually finish him with knees to the body in Round 2. "I wasn't scared of his wrestling. I wasn't scared of anything he brings," De Ridder said of Nickal. "I made a choice to really focus on the stuff I brought to the fight in this one, and I think that's important for anybody to know."
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Daniel Cormier concerned about Bo Nickal after first loss for one main reason
Daniel Cormier concerned about Bo Nickal after first loss for one main reason Daniel Cormier thinks UFC on ESPN 67 was a rude awakening for Bo Nickal. Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) suffered his first career loss when he was finished by Reinier de Ridder in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The standout wrestler added on mass for this training camp, which resulted in a big weight cut to make the non-title middleweight limit of 186 pounds. Cormier realized that Nickal struggled with De Ridder's physicality and might not be ready for the upper echelon of the division just yet. "Do you think subconsciously Bo Nickal was doing the weight thing because he was very concerned about Reiner de Ridder's size?" Cormier said on "Good Guy/Bad Guy" with Chael Sonnen. "Because RDR is a big dude. Especially when they walked out there, RDR was big, he was just walking him down. And honestly, Chael, he made Bo look like a guy that isn't that good and not ready for the highest level of competition." Many have reveled in Nickal's loss. Since signing with the UFC in 2022, Nickal has not been short on confidence, continuously trashing No. 1 contender Khamzat Chimaev's wrestling. While Cormier doesn't see Nickal beating Chimaev, he clarified some of the American Top Team prospect's comments. "Doesn't it suck, though, at how much joy people seem to be taking from this?" Cormier said. "It's almost like they want the athlete to be confident, they want the athlete to be sure, but then when the athlete's sure, it's like, 'Oh he's too arrogant.' Maybe Bo's going a little far talking about Chimaev. Here's what he never said, though: He never said he could beat Khamzat Chimaev in a fight. He said in a wrestling match, he would beat Khamzat Chimaev and still to this day, I believe that. "He never said he would beat Khamzat Chimaev. He can't beat Khamzat Chimaev. That was never a thing, at least not now. I remember when I was fighting Stipe Miocic, we were going to try to get Bo Nickal to sign with Zinkin Entertainment, so he came on that recruitment trip. That was 2019. If anything is worrisome to me, it's that he hasn't developed further in terms of his skillset. That, to me, is what's concerning a little bit."
