Bo Nickal Suffers 1st-Ever Loss with Stunning Reinier de Ridder KO at UFC Fight Night

Reinier de Ridder dealt Bo Nickal his first career MMA defeat, scoring a KO at 1:53 of the second round during UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

With the win, de Ridder improves his professional record to 20-2, while Nickal falls to 7-1.

De Ridder controlled the fight from start to finish, landing 87.5 percent of his total strikes and 68.8 percent of his significant strikes, far outpacing Nickal’s 60 percent total strikes and 38.1 percent significant strike accuracy.

The win marks de Ridder’s fourth career TKO, adding to his 13 submission victories.

Nickal, who joined the main UFC roster via Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, had built an impressive resume with major wins—most recently defeating veteran Paul Craig by unanimous decision in November 2024. Though this marks the first setback of his career, Nickal still holds two wins by TKO and four by submission. 

Keen to move up the middlewieght division was surprised that Nickal accepted the fight on such short notice

De Ridder shared his desire to ascend the middleweight division and disclosed that he was on the verge of agreeing to a quick-turnaround fight before the opportunity to face Nickal came his way.

“Yeah, we were talking about a quick, short-notice fight,” de Ridder told UFC’s Simon Head ahead of the fight. “So I was supposed to maybe even fight a week later, after the last LA fight, but it didn't come to fruition, unfortunately. Then, a couple weeks later, they called me about the Bo fight.

“I was surprised, because I didn't really expect that one. But I think style-wise, it's a very cool matchup to see. Our grappling style clash will be very cool. And he's maybe not a top five talent yet, but he's definitely a top five name. So yeah, I'm very happy with the matchup.”