Since the day he made his UFC debut, former 3-time NCAA Division I champion Bo Nickal has become quite the polarizing figure among UFC fans. Despite winning his fights, the 29-year-old would still get booed out of the arena. However, things became worse when he suffered his maiden loss at UFC Des Moines against Reinier de Ridder. That’s when the term ‘fraud check’ came into play, and fans would use that phrase to call out Nickal.
Recently, one of the other up-and-comers in the middleweight division, whom Joe Rogan highly rates, addressed the callouts of being ‘fraud-checked’. Joe Pyfer has always been a fighter that the 57-year-old asks the fans to watch out for, especially because of ‘Bodybagz’s punching power. Unfortunately, Pyfer suffered his first UFC loss last year when he fought Jack Hermansson. The 28-year-old went into the fight as the favorite, but the Norwegian national gave him a pretty tough challenge. Both middleweights went toe-to-toe, but Hermansson came out on top with a split decision victory.
To make people understand what ‘getting fraud-checked’ really means, Joe Pyfer decided to take a swipe at fellow middleweight, Bo Nickal. Claiming how the former NCAA star got rattled and knocked down with a vicious knee from Reinier de Ridder, ‘Bodybagz’ claims that the aforementioned phrase should be used for Nickal because he got dominated in his first professional defeat against an incredibly tough opponent.
“I think a lot of people go off [by] my Jack Hermansson fight, which is fine. But, you know, that was my first big show, my first big test… Wasn’t my best performance, but I didn’t get rocked, I didn’t get dropped, I didn’t get submitted. I didn’t get fraud-checked,” Joe Pyfer stated during the recent UFC 316 media day. “Let’s redefine what fraud checked is. If anybody got fraud-checked, you can say it’s Bo Nickal. He got finished on his first loss. I lost to basically a split decision. Three rounds to two.”
MMA: UFC Fight Night – Des Moines – de Ridder v Nickal May 3, 2025 Des Moines, Iowa, UNITED STATES Bo Nickal blue gloves reacts after losing to Reinier de Ridder not pictured during UFC Fight Night at Wells Fargo Arena. Des Moines Wells Fargo Arena Iowa UNITED STATES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xReesexStricklandx 20250503_jhp_ax4_0427
Well, Joe Pyfer taking aim at Bo Nickal is no surprise because they’re rivals after all. But Joe Rogan isn’t a rival of either, and while we’d have liked to hear what he had to say, the 57-year-old has spoken about it publicly. Regardless, Nickal has received some words of motivation after the loss of his opponent during a recent interview. Here’s what he had to say.
Reinier de Ridder shares motivational words for Bo Nickal
Between athletes, what happens inside the Octagon stays inside the Octagon. That’s the spirit Reinier de Ridder showed during a recent interview while speaking about handing Bo Nickal his first loss. He expressed dislike towards the middleweight prospect getting trolled with the aforementioned ‘fraud-check’ term. ‘The Dutch Knight’ is pretty certain about Nickal getting back on his feet soon and getting his hype train rolling again.
“It’s not a nice part of our culture at the moment that people will hate on somebody online like that… He wouldn’t have had to take all the negative stuff in, but I don’t believe he did,” Reinier de Ridder told MMA Junkie. “He got most of it in his mind, but it is what it is. I think he’ll be back. He’ll be back stronger than ever next time.”
Well, the one important advice that the far more experienced Reinier de Ridder told Bo Nickal was to stay away from his phone and not take in the negativity. But with such incendiary words from Joe Pyfer, do you think he’ll follow that advice, or will he clap back? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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