Bo Nickal has a history of making headlines. The legend from Penn State and the undefeated UFC fighter has built a brand of supremacy—both in the octagon and on the mats. While his sporting dominance is undisputed, his latest comments are, well, not. His comments about the college recruitment for wrestlers has sparked a firestorm of debate, and it’s not too hard to see why.

It all began when Nickal responded to a commenter who said that the Penn State wrestling program was basically not all that cracked up to be. Nickal, understandably, rose to the defense of his alma mater, writing, “Kids go to PSU to win. Kids go elsewhere to get paid. Nothing wrong with that at all but it’s true.”

And well, it didn’t take too long for his tweet to spread across wrestling circles and for fans of rival teams to weigh in with their own counterarguments. Bo Nickal’s response suggested that wrestlers who chose PSU did so purely to win, whereas they went to other schools just as a cash grab. A sentiment that inevitably did not go down well with rival fans.

But in a wrestling world where NIL has redefined the landscape, is it actually true? Well, if you ask the Nittany Lions’ legendary head coach, Cael Sanderson, absolutely not. “We’re not going to get anybody because of NIL money,” said Sanderson. “That just goes against what we believe.”

But it is undeniable that there is now money in college wrestling in a way there never was before due to NIL. It isn’t something that can just be ignored, and commenters weren’t convinced that Penn State was some kind of exception to using monetary incentives or rewards. It’s safe to say that Bo Nickal sparked a flurry of dissent.

Fans clap back at Bo Nickal’s comment

One X user asserted that Penn State was a big player in the money game before the NIL era. “I was there when Aaron Brooks’ dad asked for $300K from a Big Ten coach before NIL even existed, so P$U came first. Don’t play so stupid, or maybe you aren’t playing.” The user clearly thought Nickal’s claim was spurious and ignorant of the reality that PSU had its own financial incentives to offer.

The backlash wasn’t just limited to wrestling circles either. With Nickal now a UFC fighter, some fans used this opportunity to admit how their opinions of him had changed: “I attended UFC 309, and it made me not respect you as a fighter or Penn State as a wrestling organization.” Another commenter took to plain sarcasm.“Is your sixth year doing pro bono work?” 

Others also resented that he had gotten himself into the argument at all, pointing to the successes of programs such as Ohio State and Iowa, not understanding Nickal’s need to belittle them. “Bo trolling the easily offended. OSU and Iowa are amazing, legit programs. So many great champions at both places. I wish you wouldn’t do this. It makes it hard for me to cheer for you fighting now. But I really want to.”

And lastly, this reply encapsulated the general feeling perfectly: “Please, the kids at PSU are getting paid just like the other schools. Maybe they could make more at other places, but stop with the gaslighting.” 

The users in Nickal’s mentions made it clear that they didn’t appreciate his attempt to rewrite the record. Although the Nittany Lions are a dominant force, the commenters were united in expressing that PSU wrestling was not some program that focused on wrestling and wrestling only, irrespective of external factors. Not to mention that they vehemently disregarded the implication that other wrestling programs did not care about winning.

The bigger picture: NIL and the changing college wrestling landscape. Underpinning this argument is a larger discourse of how college wrestling operates within the world of NIL. Whether PSU admits it or not, the monetary incentives do play a part. Bo Nickal’s loyalty to Penn State cannot be argued with, yet within the modern landscape, the idea that PSU recruits with no consideration to NIL is not one that holds up.