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Jamie Pickett was given the task of welcoming Bo Nickal to the UFC. Nickal, the mega-prospect who was making his UFC debut in the UFC 285 pay-per-view opener on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, is one of the most highly-touted prospects in mixed martial arts history and was the biggest betting favorite on the card.
Nickal was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion in wrestling during his time at Penn State. He finished his collegiate wrestling career with a record of 120-3, going an undefeated 30-0 in his junior and senior years.
Early in the fight against Pickett, Nickal scored a takedown against the cage and methodically worked his way into position to lock in a fight-ending arm-triangle choke just under three minutes into the fight to advance to 4-0. Pickett, meanwhile, dropped to 13-9 in his career but he is hoping to get the loss removed from his record.
According to a report from Nolan King of MMAjunkie.com, Jamie Pickett’s manager LaMont Chappell says that Pickett’s team will be appealing the result of the fight with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, “citing a low blow directly led to the takedown and finish.”
When you see a video replay of the fight’s ending, it does appear that a low blow went unnoticed by referee Keith Peterson.
Here is the sequence which shows the apparent low blow against the cage, the takedown, and the eventual fight-ending submission.
Footage of NUT shot by Bo Nickal #ufc284 pic.twitter.com/lHXa2EpaZY
— Bri₳n Almost Died Broke (@CryptoNandez) March 5, 2023
It will be interesting to see how the Nevada Athletic Commission responds to the appeal.
For the win, Nickal received a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, along with new heavyweight champion Jon Jones and new women’s flyweight titleholder Alexa Grasso. The $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus went to Geoff Neal and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
If you missed out on Saturday’s action, we have you covered.
A full look at the UFC 285 results can be seen by clicking the link below.
