Bo Nickal defeats Paul Craig to win UFC 309

Bo Nickal earned yet another victory Saturday evening, defeating Paul Craig in the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden. Nickal entered the fight as a massive favorite against his opponent and delivered the results that most expected.

Nickal and Craig split the first two rounds. However, Nickal would go on to claim the third round and win by a score of 30-27 across the board.

Nickal, a three-time NCAA champion at Penn State, improved his record as an MMA fighter to 7-0 with the victory against Craig. It was also his fourth UFC appearance overall.

This win is arguably the most impressive of his young career and he will look to continue building on this performance. His most recent victory before this one came back in April against Cody Brundage at UFC 300.

Nickal has still yet to fight an opponent ranked in the top 15 of the UFC middleweight division, but said after that win that he is ready to see higher competition.

“I got to talk with the UFC about that,” Nickal said when asked if any opponent’s name comes to mind. “And talk with the coaches. I think that I just want to continue to fight better and better guys. I want to start approaching the rankings here soon. It’s funny because once you get in the rankings you don’t really need to fight, like there’s 15 guys ranked. I don’t need to fight 15 guys to get to the belt right? Only need to fight two or three.

“If I fight a ranked guy then it’s feasible that within six months I’m fighting for the belt. So I think that I want to get maybe one or two more guys that are a little bit better, right outside of the rankings and then maybe early next year, start (fighting) ranked guys. And then maybe 2025, fight for the belt. So that’s kind of where I see it going.”

Bo Nickal attempted to make the USA Olympic Wrestling Team in 2021, but fell short of a team spot to fellow former Penn State national champion David Taylor, who went on to win a gold medal. Nickal fully turned his attention to MMA, opening up an American Top Team gym near Penn State’s campus, training regularly with UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal in the beginning.

In his four seasons at Penn State, Nickal compiled a 120-3 record, won three NCAA titles (two at 184 pounds and one at 197 pounds), was a four-time All-American (national finalist in 2016 at 174 pounds) and finished his career on a 67-match winning streak.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.