Bo Nickal goes past round one for first time ever, submits Cody Brundage at UFC 300
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, April 13, 2024, for the biggest event mixed martial arts has ever put on, UFC 300, going down live from the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a light-heavyweight title bout between former UFC middleweight champion and current UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (9-2), who aims to make the first defense of his title in tonight’s main event opposing no. 1 ranked former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill (13-1).
Co-headlining the event is also a title fight, this one going down at 115 lbs as UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang (24-3) is set to battle no. 1 ranked Yan Xiaonan in the first ever China versus China title fight in UFC history.
Our feature fight of the evening comes in the lightweight division between no. 2 ranked Justin Gaethje (25-4) and former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway (25-7), who will slug it out for the BMF title in our third PPV bout of the evening.
Opening up the main card tonight was a middleweight affair between three-time NCAA Division I national champion and U23 freestyle wrestling gold medalist Bo Nickal (6-0), who made his third octagon appearance tonight to face fellow stud wrestled Cody Brundage (10-6).
Though Brundage had been up and down with wins and losses through his UFC career, he was three times as experienced as Nickal coming in, and he’d also fought five rounds before when he won the LOC middleweight title in 2019, where Nickal had never been out of the first round through his amateur or professional career.
Continue reading to see how this middleweight bout went down:
Official Result: Bo Nickal def. Cody Brundage via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:38 of round two
Brundage throws a variety of strikes in the opening minute of the fight, trying to give Nickal looks he hasn’t seen before. Each man landed a hard punch in an exchange, Nickal of which shot in on a takedown immediately following, eventually securing it. Nickal spent the remainder of the opening round mauling Brundage, securing mount for a time and also taking his back on two occasions.
Nickal landed a heavy body kick at the start of the second, Brundage returning one of his own. Nickal caught Brundage’s kick and attempted a takedown but was easily shrugged off. However, he shot in on another double leg shortly following and picked the knee while turning the corner in order to secure that one.
Nickal proceeded to take Brundage’s back, before Brundage gave up mount and ate some shots from bottom. Nickal attempted arm-triangle chokes from top position, but was unable to secure them. Brundage then gave up his back again, where he was ultimately submitted with a rear naked choke.
Bo Nickal wins by submission 👊pic.twitter.com/6g7DP9vjSp
— WrestlersGrind (@_wrestlersgrind) April 14, 2024
Cody Brundage certainly gave the Penn State standout his toughest test to date. But it was Bo Nickal that walked away the victor today, keeping his 100% finish rate intact with his first ever win to go past the opening round.
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