Josh Thomson suggests UFC cuts Bo Nickal so he can develop: 'He needs work'
Josh Thomson suggests UFC cuts Bo Nickal so he can develop: 'He needs work'
Josh Thomson wants to see Bo Nickal let go from the UFC, but perhaps it's for a good reason.
Nickal (7-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) suffered his first-career loss when he was finished by Reinier de Ridder in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 67 co-main event at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Nickal appeared to struggle with De Ridder's strength before getting dropped and stopped after absorbing body shots in Round 2.
Thomson, a former Strikeforce champion, doesn't think Nickal is UFC ready and would like to see him pick up a few wins elsewhere before returning.
"The way he lost, as the UFC, I'm really telling him, like, you know what? You need to spend probably a good eight months, and you need to tighten up everything," Thomson said on his "Weighing In" podcast. "We're going to give you some time. We're going to almost do like what we did with Mason Jones or what we did with Youssef Zalal, and we're going to send you off a little bit. We'll give you eight months or whatever. He needs work. It was very telling how much work he needs."
Thomson's co-host, John McCarthy, suggested Nickal face Torrez Finney next, an idea Finney is on board with.
"Both had multiple fights in the Dana White's Contender Series, I could see that fight," Thomson responded. "Honestly, with Torrez Finney, they don't seem like they want him."
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