The UFC Des Moines co-main event turned into the proving ground where Reinier de Ridder effectively humbled Bo Nickal, stopping the blue-chip prospect in the second round and handing him his first MMA loss. The all-American was being touted as the next big thing at middleweight, but the Dutchman proved to be way too crafty for the former NCAA wrestler. And it wasn’t just the loss that got the MMA fans buzzing. It was the way Nickal reacted to getting hit that made them draw instant comparisons to Brock Lesnar.

The Dutchman didn’t just derail the hype train, he smashed it. While his striking had been the biggest question mark coming into the fight, he flipped the script. From the opening bell, ‘RDR’ went to work in the clinch. He smashed Nickal’s body with knees that echoed through the arena. The American had no answers. De Ridder also connected with crisp left hands, and you could see they were bothering Nickal. The finish came in Round 2, after another brutal body shot folded him, snatching away Nickal’s ‘0’.

This is not the first time we have seen an NCAA wrestler getting smashed by knees and punches against the cage. Very similar finishes happened to former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar as well. Despite having a freak athleticism, Cain Velasquez’s clean shot destroyed Lesnar’s ability to get the takedowns going at UFC 121.

That was the time Velasquez made Lesnar do the barrel roll before finishing him brutally. Then, at UFC 141, which ultimately led to his first UFC sabbatical, Lesnar’s ribs were shattered by Alistair Overeem’s unforgivable knees with body kicks and punches. So, the fans also noticed the same pattern at the UFC Des Moines co-main event. 

Moreover, there were rumors that Lesnar’s Minnesota-based gym called ‘Death Clutch’ didn’t focus on his striking. Although the former champ trained under elite coaches like Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson and even had training partners like Pat Barry, this didn’t translate to success in the striking department. Inside the Octagon, Lesnar was prone to flinching to incoming strikes and made use only of his NCAA wrestling credentials. While this worked with Randy Couture and Shane Carwin, it led to disaster against the aforementioned Velasquez and Overeem.

This is what happened to Nickal as he looked under pressure from the start. ‘RDR’ found a rhythm with that left hand, and Nickal just couldn’t seem to get out of the way. He tried firing back with his own. But ended up leaving his body completely open. That is all the invitation de Ridder needed to dig in those brutal knees. The way Bo reacted had fans flashing back to Lesnar real quick. The comparisons hit the internet fast, and a lot of people weren’t too thrilled with how the all-American handled it. So, let’s see what they have to say. 

Fans draw comparisons to Bo Nickal’s striking response to Brock Lesnar 

One fan noticed the striking similarities between Bo Nickal and Brock Lesnar, and wrote, “Bo reacts to strikes like Brock Lesnar. He’ll never make it at the top level of MMA.” While Lesnar wasn’t exactly a striking wizard, he did hold UFC gold and was undeniably an athletic freak. So, the fan chimed in to balance things out, saying, “It definitely wasn’t a like-for-like comparison—except for how he reacts to strikes. Brock was an athletic freak for sure.”

Another fight where the former 265lbs kingpin notably battled adversity to win was against Shane Carwin at UFC 116, which is considered one of the best MMA comebacks ever. A user pointed out that fight, saying, “He did, but he also ate Shane Carwin. Don’t think Bo has that kind of dog in him.” Another user simply stated a harsh take that Lesnar became a champion, something the middleweight prospect has no chance of doing, writing, “I said Bo will never get to the top level of MMA. Brock was a champion.”

“Correct take. He has been exposed.” A user just blatantly stated this to signify that the hype around Bo Nickal has been derailed for good. That got even more serious when another user wrote, “He crumbled at the first sign of adversity. Not a good look.” Referring to how the middleweight prospect couldn’t pick himself up despite facing the adversity when de Ridder started punishing him with a barrage of punches. 

The striking similarity between Bo Nickal and Brock Lesnar when it came to handling pressure was a sharp catch by the community. That said, did you spot any other similarities between the two? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to hear what you think.