Bo Nickal was dismissive of Greco-Roman wrestling when he talked about how wrestling can become a mainstream sport. Ever since his comments, athletes, including a 2023 Pan American gold medalist, and fans alike have been fiercely debating the sport’s place among other combat sports and its visibility in the United States. Despite Mijaín López’s spectacular gold medal win in the 130kg category, wrestling’s prominence and popularity or lack thereof—in America remains under question.

On August 16, Pat Downey, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, made waves by dominating former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the 80 kg category at the Craig Jones Invitational, a high-profile international submission grappling tournament. With his victory over a seasoned MMA veteran, Downey seized the moment to share his thoughts on how to elevate wrestling to the next level while also giving his views on Nickal’s suggestion that Greco-Roman wrestling should be done away with.

Speaking on the Parry Punch YouTube channel on August 26, Downey didn’t hold back about the current state of wrestling in America. He acknowledged that wrestling doesn’t capture the public’s imagination as other sports do, but he’s convinced that some bold changes could transform its status.

Citing how the Craig Jones Invitational got the best BJJ stars by offering them a guaranteed $10,001 and a staggering $1 million for each of the two tournament winners, Downey said wrestling can do something similar. “Everybody that wrestles off all these guys he poached them from that are qualified for the world trials and said here here’s a million dollar tournament for you guys 10 grand to wrestle in it what do you think we’d do?”

Downey suggested that wrestling needs a grassroots overhaul and there is a need to break the stranglehold by USA Wrestling and FLO Wrestling. “If I can get the Fair Fight foundation on board that we can disrupt you know the wrestling entities too. Break up that whole monopoly with USA Wrestling and FLO and now we got an outside source running wrestling. Now we have a televised on a wrestling Wednesday channel and we have the best faces in wrestling being built up like individual brands like they do at UFC, he said.

His suggestion of building wrestlers as brands similar to what we see in UFC or other MMA promotions could be exactly what the sport needs. The sport has been dipping in popularity, so much so that in 2013, the IOC voted to drop wrestling from the Summer Olympics program, however, protests by wrestlers and the resignation of the president of the sport’s governing body, FILA (now United World Wrestling), forced a revisit of the decision and the ancient sport held its place.

Yet, the lack of stars and regular coverage continue to undermine the sport. A program or event that can offer handsome financial incentives to wrestlers and build them as athletes whose stories go beyond the mat could go a long way. One of the reasons why the IOC considered doing away with wrestling was its lack of star athletes. Apart from this, Downey had other suggestions as well.

He mentioned,

Over the years, low ticket sales, decreasing popularity, and low TV ratings have contributed to wrestling’s appeal being diminished over the years. The USA Wrestling and FLO Wrestling have often come under scrutiny for their lack of advertising for the sport. As Downey suggested it is high time wrestling learned from BJJ and how the Craig Jones Invitational changed the landscape.

Unhappy with the financial setup at ADCC, Jones went ahead and launched the CJI, to bring more interest into the sport and draw mainstream attention. Jones dished out a $1 million grand prize to his top winners, compared to the  $40,000 payout at ADCC. The event also sold out the Thomas & Mack Center on his second night of action, proving that investment in BJJ was worth it.

Pat Downey also regretted the fact that wrestlers in the US don’t get the due respect and popularity in other countries and suggested that the game needs to be changed to attract more talent.

He stated, “They got to change the way the sport is presented into public. You go to Russia, Iran, India, Azerbaijan, you go another country basically, they see wrestlers, they are like fighter, fighter, wrestlers treated like we treat basketball, football.” When you take a look at how UFC or even WWE (pro wrestling) present their stars, wrestling seems to be lagging far behind.

WWE creates characters with shades of good and bad and gives fans a reason to invest in them, loathe them or cheer for them. This element along with inputs from BJJ and UFC, if incorporated correctly can bring wrestling slowly to mainstream attention, something that the sport desperately needs.

While the 2019 US national champion in 86kg freestyle wrestling suggested some interesting changes to push the sport into the spotlight, Bo Nickal’s radical approach caught him in a whirlwind of controversy.

Bo Nickal suggested radical changes for Wrestling

Speaking on his podcast “Nickals and Dimes” on August 22,  the three-time NCAA Division I national champion, said, “A couple things need to happen for wrestling to become a mainstream sport. Get rid of Greco, doesn’t even make sense. Can’t grab the legs? Alright. Stupid made-up rule for no reason.”

However, his comment quickly sparked controversy, drawing backlash from several prominent wrestlers, including the US National Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, Kamal Bey.

Tweeting a day after Nickal’s comments, Bey wrote, “Not grabbing legs makes things dumb? The most popular style of wrestling internationally is Greco Roman🤷🏾‍♂️. Most Americans won’t even take time to learn the sport that’s why it’s uninteresting to most. Wish you’d come and take time to learn our sport @NoBickal then you’d appreciate how hard and how fun it can be.” 

During his appearance on The Parry Punch podcast, Downey also addressed Nickal’s comments about removing Greco-Roman wrestling. “No, I think that’s all retarded. I think taking wrestling away is dumb. I think we need to add more wrestling,” though he agreed with Nickal’s suggestion about adding more weight classes. The

Pat Downey and Bo Nickal have somewhat different visions for how to make wrestling more mainstream. Downey wants to embed wrestling into the American psyche, pushing it as a sport just as popular as football or basketball. On the other hand, Nickal believes in making the more radical changes such as adding more weight classes and doing away with the two bronze medals at the Olympics.

So, whose approach do you think would be more effective in bringing wrestling into the limelight? Share your thoughts!