Bo Nickal suffered first freestyle wrestling loss since 2021 at RAF 12

Bo Nickal faced disappointment this past weekend. He made his return to freestyle wrestling at RAF 12, where he wrestled NCAA lightning rod Max McEnelly in a light heavyweight match, but despite his best efforts, he came up just short against a younger, fresher opponent.

RAF 12 was a night to forget for Bo Nickal

Before last Saturday, the last time Bo Nickal had competed under the RAF banner was back in 2025, on the promotion's first event, RAF 01. He faced Jacob Cardenas, a three-time NCAA Division I All-American, for the inaugural RAF light heavyweight title, beating him 6-4 to win the belt. Nickal was later scheduled to defend the belt against ex-UFC middleweight title challenger and Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero at RAF 04, but he withdrew from the match due to undisclosed reasons. The match was subsequently rescheduled for RAF 05, but fell through once more after Romero missed weight and Nickal elected not to face him.

Beyond the inactivity, Nickal was also stripped of his light heavyweight title after RAF changed the weight class from 205 pounds to 215 pounds. So, when he made his return at RAF 12 on Aug. 22, Nickal had a point to prove. He took on 2026 NCAA Division I wrestling champion Max McEnelly, a smaller but hyper-skilled opponent. In the end, Nickal, a three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion, lost to McEnelly by 3-2, marking his first freestyle wrestling loss since April 2021, when he suffered back-to-back losses to David Taylor at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials. Fortunately for him, he's found more recent success on the MMA front. 

After losing his then 7-0 undefeated record at UFC on ESPN 67, where he was TKO'd in round two by Reinier de Ridder, he bounced back with a two-fight win streak. First, he knocked out multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Rodolfo Vieira in round three at UFC 322. He followed that up with another finish, as he TKO'd Kyle Daukaus in round one at UFC Freedom 250. He is now ranked #13 at middleweight by the Meta UFC rankings, while the media panel has him ranked just below at #14. Now, he'll dust himself off after his RAF disappointment and look to work his way into UFC middleweight title contention.