Confidence is a double-edged sword. And as it turns out, Bo Nickal, who thought he had great control over the sword, has fallen victim to his own. The former three-time NCAA Division I national champion, with a seven-fight win streak in MMA, is heading to UFC Fight Night: Des Moines looking to further establish his dominance and extend his win streak. However, his biggest mistake was underestimating his opponent for the night, Reinier De Ridder.

The former two-division champion at ONE Championship entered the Octagon with a vast difference in experience between the two, an aspect Nickal did not take seriously enough. This led to a brutal ending for the American prospect as De Ridder quite easily finished him in the second round. The ending came as an upset for many, but the Dutchman and his followers were barely surprised by the outcome.

Most of the fans expected the bout to be a grappling showdown, however, with De Ridder’s distance management and clinical body strikes, the bout came to an abrupt ending, that left the whole MMA community shocked. As he sat down with the ‘UFC Unfiltered’ podcast, De Ridder revealed that he wasn’t surprised by Nickal’s strategy, and as he had a few good words for his striking, he laid down the one regret he had from the fight. He wanted to choke out Bo Nickal.

Reinier De Ridder revealed: “No, I don’t think so. Not really, had a he had a nice takedown with the inside trip to the to the single ankle pick. Um, he was, in the end when he was hurt he had a few decent shots in him still, when he started swinging. But yeah this was kind of what I was expecting, but I hoped to choke him out. But this was nice too.”

After the stellar performance against a rising prospect, it seems De Ridder will head straight to the deep waters of the UFC’s middleweight division. He already has a fight booked with a veteran in Robert Whittaker, yet he has eyes on ‘America’s best striker’ as well.

After upsetting the world and beating Bo Nickal, the Dutchman’s callout was straight and simple. He beat the best American wrestler, now he wanted the best American striker.

Reinier De Ridder calls out Sean Strickland after beating Bo Nickal

“I wanted to say, this is the best American wrestler you have, right? Now give me the best American striker. Strickland, you’re up buddy, let’s go!” This is what De Ridder said upon beating the biggest American prospect of the UFC. For his next target, he announced that he wants to face Sean Strickland next with intentions similar to what we saw against Bo.

However, in an amazing turn of events, Strickland, too, revealed he wanted to fight ‘RDR’ next, but the UFC Matchmaker Mick Maynard has other plans for him, particularly to face Caio Burrahlo, a close friend of Strickland, whom he rejected the fight against. Strickland said: “I wanted to fight that, uh, RDR kid. Yeah, so Mick wanted me to fight Caio, such a great guy! Well, we kind of both said no.” In between all this, Strickland is also rumored to face Israel Adesanya for their rematch.

Further explaining why he wanted to face ‘RDR’, while complimenting his Jiu Jitsu, Strickland said: “So that’s why I like that RDR f** fight. Like that’ll be a great one. You know your f* Jiu Jitsu. You beat up Bo Nickal, who’s a f*p*, that’d be a great fight.” While taking a shot at Bo Nickal, it seems Strickland has respect for the MMA veteran and genuinely wants to challenge him in the Octagon.

However, ‘RDR’ is going to face Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker next, and this bout, too, has all the ingredients to be a fireworks spectacle. With a win over Whittaker, the chances of a battle between Strickland and De Ridder will rise significantly, but before speculating that, we have to ask, will Reinier De Ridder be able to beat ‘Bobby Knuckles’? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.