The Flowrestling Night came as a disappointment for most of the US wrestling fans. Going one-on-one against Masanosuke Ono, Spencer Lee lost the match in a shocking manner. With Ono controlling proceedings right from the beginning, Lee struggled to find his mojo. Securing an impressive 3-2 defeat against the legendary wrestler, Ono was surely excited. But surprisingly, amidst thousands of sad American fans, there was someone who was happy too. And it was none other than Bo Nickal! 

During the game, Nickal was at Ono’s corner. Throughout the game, UFC star Nickal could be seen guiding and talking with Ono about the possible strategies. Surely enough, those were seemingly applied by Ono to the fullest. As the game progressed, Ono took control of the middle. He kept pushing Lee to the side of the mat, leading to several step-out points.

In the end, it was quite a comfortable victory for Ono. What was really surprising was the fact that Lee looked to be lacking in gaining ground control significantly. And it is this exact virtue that seemed to have impressed Bo Nickal. Talking to FloWrestling recently, Bo Nickal was asked about his experience in cornering the Japanese Masanosuke Ono.

Nickal stated that when wrestlers of such high caliber fight, the end result usually comes out spectacular. While the crowd complained about the match being ‘boring’, Nickal might have had the perfect word for the same. He said, “And I think that the match was, it was pretty, pretty tactical and, uh, interesting, you know, those guys obviously not super familiar with each other and, uh, with Ono coming down and Spencer, you know, being at 57 and kind of meeting in the middle there.” 

Surely, fighting in a class lower than his usual was a commendable act from the Japanese. Moreover, the manner in which Ono carried himself throughout the game also resulted in Nickal heaping praise on Ono. “But, uh, overall, um, I thought it was a great match. I felt like Ono did a really good job of controlling the ties, controlling the hand fight,” said the UFC champ.

He further pointed out how the Japanese played in a way that restricted Lee from bringing out his offensive game. Nickal also claimed that on the evening, it was Ono who was the better wrestler, even if by a tad bit. Nickal finally concluded his statement by doubling down on the need to evolve continuously. He mentioned that the competition is so tough at the highest level.

But without relentless fine tuning, one could soon go out of relevance. Meanwhile, coming back to Spencer Lee, there have been rumors regarding the referee’s calls. Some of the step-out points awarded did not seem fair to many. However, without involving himself in controversy, Spencer Lee gave an honest take on his recent loss to Masanosuke Ono.

Spencer Lee shuts down controversy after shocking defeat with unique take

Spencer Lee isn’t interested in excuses. While controversy swirled around the referee’s calls during his 3-2 loss to Masanosuke Ono at FloWrestling Night in America, the American wrestling star had a blunt response—take responsibility. Rather than fueling the debate over step-out points, Lee made it clear that the outcome was on him, not the officials.

“It’s up to the ref, and at the end of the day there’s no excuse,” Lee said. He further added, “I was on the edge of the mat. He wasn’t.” With that, he dismissed the controversy surrounding the officiating, reinforcing that wrestling is about controlling the center and dictating the action.

While his coaches voiced concerns over inconsistency, citing past matches where similar calls went against him—Lee refused to lean on that narrative. Instead, he pushed back against those fixating on the officiating. He stated, “If anyone says otherwise, they don’t know wrestling.” Lee continued, “You should get your butt to the center, and you should wrestle hard, and you should not be in that position.”

For Lee, the lesson was simple. Control the mat, and the rest takes care of itself. It was a refreshingly candid take from the American star, shutting down speculation and placing full accountability on his own performance.