Bo Nickal maintained his unbeaten record tonight with a unanimous decision victory over Paul Craig at UFC 309, but the fans in attendance in NYC were left unimpressed by his striking ability.
Round One:
Nickal with a few feints. He lands a calf kick. He steps into a power punch but Craig slides away from it.
High kick attempt from Craig is blocked. Winging punch from Nickal misses. Craig lands a low kick that unsettles Nickal for a moment.
Inside calf kick from Nickal that’s checked. High kick from Craig is blocked. Stepping side kick to the body from Nickal. Inside leg kicks from Craig.
Nickal only throwing single punches so far and not finding the target. He tries to double up on one that almost gets through.
Punch lands for Craig. He fires off kicks too. Nickal with a punch. Craig looks a bit more settled on the feet so far though.
Round Two:
Body kick for Craig to start round two. He tries a kick upstairs and almost goes off-balance. Left hand from Nickal grazes the target.
Low kick for Nickal as Craig is talking to him, trying to get in his head. Kick from Craig off the guard. Nickal punches to the body a few times. Now one upstairs lands.
Front kicks to the body from Craig backs Nickal up. Body punch from Nickal. Body kick for Craig. Big overhand left from Nickal lands. Kick off the guard from Craig.
Leg kick from Nickal is checked. Another body kick from Nickal is blocked. Solid left hand lands for Nickal. Body punch from Nickal and Craig counters with a short left hook and then another. Another body kick off the guard for Craig.
Straight left for Nickal. Body kick gets through this time for Craig. Body punch from Nickal. He steps in with a right hand but just misses late in the round.
Round Three:
Inside leg kick from Craig and Nickal counters with a right hand. Body kick from Craig. missed overhand from Nickal. Missed head kick from Craig.
Crowd getting a bit restless at the lack of notable action in the fight. Low kick for Craig and a body kick.
Body kick from Craig off the guard. Punch in response from Nickal. Another kick off the guard from Craig. Nickal with a solid left hand and Craig backs up clutching at his eye for a moment and has a cut. Now he looks more concerned as Nickal looks for more strikes.
Nickal being patient though. He lands a punch. Back to the center of the Octagon. Missed front kick upstairs from Craig. Body punch from Nickal. Crows is chanting ‘overated’ at Nickal.
Final 10 seconds and Nickal throws a big punch that lands clean and wobbled Craig slightly.
Decision:
Nickal shunned his wrestling in favor of testing his stand-up game tonight with mixed results. He was able to edge out the action enough each round to win a unanimous decision victory (30-27 x3), but the restless crowd boo’d him during and after what proved to be a fairly uneventful fight.
