‘Soft Behavior’: Bo Nickal Gets Brutally Mocked by Wrestling Community for Trying to Demean Olympic Gold Medalist

In the last decade or so, Penn State has established itself as one of the best wrestling programs in the country. Under the tutelage of Cael Sanderson, the NLWC is considered a force to be reckoned with in the NCAA circuit. With three straight national title wins, Sanderson & Co. are running high on adrenaline. But one of their former colleagues, MMA celebrity Bo Nickal, isn’t doing the best job at promoting the elite status that his alma mater deserves.

From Olympic gold medalist David Taylor to the 4x NCAA gold winner Aaron Brooks, the long line of iconic Penn State wrestling alums doesn’t end easily. And that’s exactly why the fans believe that Nickal should take more care when it comes to promoting the Nittany Lions against their collegiate foes online.

The UFC fighter recently got entangled in an online tryst with the 2024 Olympic gold medalist wrestler Rei Higuchi. The Japanese star recently shared an image of the wrestling room of the Cornell Big Reds, and Nickal had to take the opportunity to assert the superiority of his camp. “Cute,” sneered Bo Nickal, looking at Higuchi’s post, and instead extended an invitation to the latter to visit the NLWC training grounds. “Come see real wrestling room next,” he jibed.

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This year, Higuchi had another cyber run-in with the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Spencer Lee. During their tryst, both expressed excitement at the prospect of locking horns at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which unfortunately didn’t happen. In the City of Love in the men’s 57kg bracket, Lee took silver and Higuchi won gold. However, in the US collegiate circuit, the Nittany Lions hold a far greater track record than their Iowa colleagues. Naturally, Nickal has a right to cast shades at the Japanese Olympian. But he should’ve been more sophisticated about it, the fans opine.

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The quality of Bo Nickal’s upload tickled the funny bones among the fans who thought he should have opted for a better-quality image if he wanted to talk about how Penn State is better at what it does. Nate was astounded by how Bo could be so lackluster in his post and was even startled that the MMA star would go on to challenge someone who is almost half his size. “All soft behavior,” frowned this fan about Nickal’s latest social media update. Soon, others chimed in with similar tunes.

Bo Nickal’s casual demeanor gets thrashed

“Claustrophobic,” commented another fan, who could almost feel the breathlessness one would have while training at Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ training facility in Rec Hall hasn’t undergone many renovations in recent years, while their opponents like OSU are raking in millions in investment thanks to new coach David Taylor’s vehement efforts. “Cornell wrestling facilities are nicer than Penn States,” wrote Mark, once again making many doubt if Penn State will be able to maintain its dominance now that one of its former has taken charge of the Cowboys to help them return to the heydays.

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While Penn State staff are sure that this wouldn’t matter, fans believe Nickal should’ve also shown more confidence by showing an updated picture. In the NCAA, Nickal competed in the 184 lb, while in the UFC, he’s a middleweight fighter, which generally refers to somewhere around 185 lb. Blaine Henry is flabbergasted to see that the 3x NCAA gold medalist would try to throw a dig at someone who wrestles in a much lower weight class. “Bo…he’s 57 kilos,” sounded the fan’s blunt expression.

However, another fan believes this is a frantic attempt on Bo Nickal’s part to get attention from an Olympic gold medalist. Despite having three NCAA and Big Ten titles under his belt, Nickal knows having an Olympic medal in your cupboard is a whole different kind of feeling, thinks the fan, and smirked, “Notice me senpi, notice me.” What did you think looking at the X post? Drop in with a comment to let us know.

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