Bo Nickal won his bout at UFC 309 against veteran Paul Craig this past weekend. However, it doesn’t really seem like one. “Overrated” chants echoed throughout the arena as he was roundly criticized for his underwhelming performance despite the middleweight phenom continuing his undefeated run.

After all, the three-time NCAA D1 wrestling champ was the overwhelming favorite going in, but only managed to win a somewhat close decision over the Scotsman, a far cry from the absolute domination expected of him. Nickal also copped criticism from many including the fans, the commentators, and UFC analysts, but has insisted that he earned a “dominant, flawless victory” over the veteran.

However, the most head-scratching decision the wrestling prodigy made was not to wrestle at all with Craig. And despite being perhaps the division’s best wrestler. And Nickal made his reasoning for doing this clear in reply to a fan who questioned him about it on X.

“I was winning the striking and I was happy to get experience in the cage doing something I’ve never done before. My only (small) regret is not being more aggressive in the 3rd round after I hurt him. I need to build a better system to attack when my opponent is hurt,” Nickal wrote.

Indeed the 28-year-old did catch ‘Bear Jew’ with a big overhand left in the third round, but instead of trying to rush in and finish the job, he dithered long enough for the Scotsman to last the round. For reference, Nickal managed to land just 16 significant strikes to Craig’s 13 in the third round, which was his best round. Clearly, the furthest thing from being ‘dominant’ or ‘flawless’.

Of course, many suspect the main reason Nickal didn’t take down Craig was because the Scottish veteran is also a pretty good grappler. But the fact that Nickal would just forego his biggest strength based upon his opponent did rub many the wrong way. After all, if he isn’t wrestling a much older fighter, who isn’t exactly the best in the world, many feel, that is not a championship mindset. Not to mention his latest performance has indeed raised many many questions even keeping the no-wrestling decision aside.

‘DC’ praises Bo Nickal but doubles down on claim he’s not ready for step up in competition

Bo Nickal was furious at the UFC 309 commentary team, especially Daniel Cormier for criticizing his performance against Craig. So much so that Nickal would bring that up in an interview with Ariel Helwani a couple of days after the fight. “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,” Nickal complained.

However, Cormier clarified on his podcast that while he felt Nickal would be a champion one day, he just felt there was room for a lot of improvement. “Let’s just take our time. We don’t need to rush him. That’s all I’m saying,” Cormier said, offering an olive branch to the Penn State alum.

After all, the middleweight contender is pretty young and just seven fights into his pro-MMA career. It must not be easy to be under so much scrutiny so early in his career, being blasted for every flaw and perceived mistake he makes. While his talent, especially on the ground is apparent for everyone to see, the fact that Nickal needs a lot of improvement is a sentiment shared by the fans, analysts, and even UFC CEO Dana White. After all, White would admit in the post-UFC 309 presser that Bo has “got work to do” to come through on “a lot of expectations.”

After all, if Nickal is having reasonably close fights with the unranked, 17-9 Craig, who had lost four out of his last five fights coming into UFC 309, he is ultimately not ready to fight the top-ranked guys in the division. This was exactly what DC wanted to point out. What do you think about Bo Nickal’s thoughts on the Paul Craig fight?