"He was mixing up his targets well, landing solid body kicks and counters up top. The Penn State wrestler was using his clear speed advantage to consistently land pull counters before Vieira could manage to get out of range. After getting busted up for the first three minutes of the round, it was the Brazilian who initiated the wrestling. Vieira pushed Nickal to the fence and tried to get a double-leg takedown, but to no avail."
"Nickal came out with the aggressiveness we saw in his first couple of fights. He put on the pressure on Vieira, picked him up and slammed him down. Nickal started landing punishing shots, but the Brazilian worked his way back to the feet. Vieira shot a takedown off a failed head kick from Nickal, but the American immediately threatened with a guillotine. The jiu-jitsu master wiggled his way out of it and got back to his feet."
Bo Nickal returned to action at UFC 322 seeking to recover from the first loss of his professional career. The bout against Rodolfo Vieira was scheduled as the featured preliminary at Madison Square Garden. Nickal opened Round 1 aggressively, pressuring Vieira, lifting and slamming him, and landing punishing shots while Vieira worked back to his feet and escaped a guillotine. In Round 2 Nickal displayed clear striking improvements, mixing targets, landing body kicks and pull counters, and using speed to control distance. Vieira initiated wrestling at times but failed to secure takedowns. Nickal timed a big left hand as Vieira walked into range and finished the round in a front headlock. In Round 3 Nickal used feints and speed to beat Vieira to punches and then threw a massive head kick.
Read at Cageside Press
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