Morning Report: Daniel Cormier responds to Bo Nickal, still believes UFC shouldn't 'rush him into fights'

11/21/2024 08:00 AM

Daniel Cormier has no regrets about his commentary about Bo Nickal.

This past weekend, Nickal picked up a tepid decision win over Paul Craig in the featured main card bout of UFC 309. The biggest betting favorite on the card, Nickal out-pointed Craig over 15 minutes in a performance that lead Cormier and the commentary team to suggest Nickal might not be ready to face the likes of Khamzat Chimaev just yet, which in turn drew Nickal's ire. But Cormier stands by it.

"Bo Nickal is a bit upset about the commentary during the fight last week," Cormier said on his YouTube channel. "I've got to be honest, this one took me a little bit by surprise, because I do like Bo, and I do believe that at some point he's going to be a champion.

"Bo said he took offense to the commentary, but I think he's a little misguided," Cormier said. " ... I think he may have misunderstood what I'm trying to say. What I'm more trying to say in this fight is let's not rush him into fights with people that are much more experienced, much more battle tested, much more ready to compete at the highest level. Because it feels like one of those situations where a young guy who has shown so much promise gets a little bit fast-tracked. We have seen this time and time again, where an athlete comes onto the scene, they do so well initially that they get overwhelmed because you don't know what to do with him."

Cormier and the commentary team were not the only ones critical of Nickal's performance. The standout collegiate wrestler was the biggest betting favorite on the card but his lackluster effort also led fans to loudly boo and even start and "overrated" chant during the bout.

For Cormier, it's not an issue of being "overrated" but of development. Nickal is only three years into his MMA career and the learning curve has been steep thus far.

"It's a big jump from Bo's first opponent, Val Woodburn to [Cody] Brundage to Paul Craig," Cormier said. "That is how good he has done in that short period of time that they've already jumped him to a guy that's beaten a world champion and submitted the No. 1 contender at light heavyweight. It felt like one of those situations where Bo Nickal was going to get fast-tracked, and he would find himself overwhelmed, in over his head, and no be able to help it.

"People have already started to compare him to Khamzat Chimaev, how do they stack up, can he wrestle him, can he do this? That's not a real thing! It's not a real thing! I'm not saying he's not ready for Khamzat because I don't think he ever will be ready for Khamzat, right now he just isn't."

Fortunately, Nickal is unlikely to face Chimaev any time soon. "Borz" is possibly next in line for a middleweight title shot while Nickal remains outside of the rankings at this point. And for Cormier, particularly after seeing how Nickal handled the reaction to his fight, is for the best.

"Bo Nickal has now seen the opposite side of fame," Cormier said. "I wonder how he's going to handle negativity coming his direction. I wasn't negative. I have no problem with Bo Nickal. I believe he's going to be fine. I don't have a problem with the performance. I thought he fought really well, but there's room for improvement. Everybody said it! Let's just take our time. We don't need to rush him, that's all I'm saying."

And for what it's worth, Nickal seems to agree. After Cormier dropped his video, Nickal responded via social media, saying he and "DC" are on the same page and squashing any potential beef between the two.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Chris Weidman (16-7) vs. Eryk Anders (16-8); UFC 310, Dec. 7.

Usman Nurmagomedov (18-0, 1 NC) vs. Paul Hughes (13-1); PFL, Jan. 25.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not gonna lie, kind of an ick that Bo Nickal can't just own up to that fight being a stinker. I mean, I understand that fighters are all delusional, but Cormier is right: he's not ready. That's no knock on Nickal, who only has seven professional fights, it's just a statement of fact. And Nickal acting like that Craig performance was something to write home about is off putting, for me at least.

EXIT POLL

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