The UFC’s latest rankings have often been the talk of the town with many surprises for the fans. In a recent development Russian middleweight Sharaputdin Magomedov finds himself sitting on the ladder than rising star Bo Nickal, who isn’t even in the UFC middleweight top 15. That seems a bit bewildering to say the least, since Nickal has almost twice the number of fights and wins than Shara ‘Bullet’. While both fighters made their promotional debuts in 2023, Bo Nickal technically started fighting under the UFC banner in 2022, owing to his two appearances in Dana White’s Contender Series.

Both fighters appeared on the UFC 309 card and won their respective bouts. However, ‘Bullet’ had a bigger showing with a double spinning back fist KO, while Nickal fought Paul Craig to an abysmal three-round decision win. Regardless, the appearance of Sharaputdin Magomedov on the rankings and not Bo Nickal has left a lot of questions in fans’ minds, drawing the ire of former fighter and UFC analyst Chael Sonnen, who absolutely went off Nickal not being included in the list.

Chael Sonnen openly criticizes the latest UFC rankings in the middleweight division

Both fighters are coming off victories in their last fights and are unbeaten in their UFC career. So why does the Russian fighter find himself ahead of Nickal in the ranking? Sonnen raised the exact same point while speaking to Daniel Cormier. In a video uploaded to his Instagram page, Sonnen asked Cormier, “Who in our rankings committee did not give the undefeated Bo Nickal who’s only left the distance one time”. 

‘The American Gangster’ seemed absolutely amazed with the rankings and further added, “Only left the first round one time until the last fight. Who didn’t give him a ranking but put Shara Bullet as number 13? Just because he’s got a crazy eye? That’s a little hard to believe right there. Shara Bullet is ranked and Bo Nickal isn’t in the same weight class wow. Tell me how you got to that one guys.”. For fighters, every battle in the Octagon is a step toward or away from that coveted top position.

In the unforgiving world of MMA, the UFC rankings aren’t just numbers—they’re the key to shaping a fighter’s future and defining their place in history. Looking to make a name for himself in history is 28-year-old Bo Nickal. However, the undefeated prospect faced a lot of criticism for his performance at UFC 309. Expressing satisfaction at the outcome of his UFC 309 fight, he especially didn’t like what Cormier had to say about his performance.

Bo Nickal shares his honest opinion on Daniel Cormier’s comments about his performance

There was quite a bit of criticism over Nickal’s performance at UFC 309 after he decided not to wrestle Paul Craig in the fight. In addition, his striking too, was criticized, along with his intent to end the fight, despite hurting his opponent. This kind of criticism didn’t sit well with the Penn State alum, who shared his feelings while speaking to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on his YouTube show. According to Nickal, most people appreciated him for his performance but he was surprised by the commentary team’s analysis, particularly Daniel Cormier.

One comment that stuck to his head was ‘DC’ declaring definitively that he would be no match for fellow middleweight  Khamzat Chimaev. The American has shown his willingness to fight the Chechen Fighter in the past, but comparing their recent performances, ‘DC’ feels he has a lot to do in his game.

“And to hear things like ‘DC’ say ‘Oh, he’s not ready for Khamzat.’ I think he was trying to be respectful but also trying to like, I don’t know, maybe like set me done a peg. It was just weird to hear… But it was a little disappointing to hear some of those comments from people I respect a lot.”, said Nickal to Ariel Helwani about Cormier’s comments.

But do you think Bo Nickal deserves a place higher than the Russian fighter? Do you think his UFC 309 showing warrants a position, at least in the middleweight top 15? Let us know in the comments down below.