Robert Whittaker kept a keen eye on Bo Nickal during UFC 300 and while he acknowledged the prodigy's win, the former champion believes that there is still a lot of work to be done.
In a UFC 300 recap episode of the MMArcade podcast, Whittaker claimed that he felt Nickal put on an adequate performance but does not believe the Penn State alumnus is ready for ranked competition. 'The Reaper', who co-hosts the podcast alongside Jonny Roses, called Nickal's win "fine" but did not appear to be too impressed by the 6-0 fighter.
Whittaker said (via MMA Junkie):
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"I think Bo Nickal did fine versus a dude that could kind of wrestle, kind of strike, and he didn’t look as good as he has previously because he’s been running through shoe-ins for him. It is what it is. I think he’s got some work to do before he’s ready to fight top-10 dudes."
Though some Nickal fans criticized the middleweight for his take, most tended to agree with Whittaker in the comments, with one fan writing:
"Couldn't agree more Bobby Knuckles"
Other fans commented:
"Rob knows ball"
"He's 6-0 and finished all his fights in the UFC. He'll be just fine"
"Nickal can beat Whittaker right now!"
"I see no lies, Rob would give him work"
View more fan reactions to Robert Whittaker's response below:
Watch the full episode of the MMArcade podcast from YouTube below:
Robert Whittaker says "I don't care for Cody Brundage" when discussing Bo Nickal's UFC 300 win
When asked about his thoughts on Bo Nickal's UFC 300 win, Robert Whittaker got a laugh out of his podcast co-host by saying that he didn't care about the pay-per-view main card opener.
Whittaker also noted that he "didn't care for Cody Brundage very much," a factor that likely had an impact on his opinion. Brundage fought Whittaker's teammate, Jacob Malkoun, at UFC Vegas 79, winning by disqualification due to an illegal elbow.
Whittaker said:
"To be honest, I don't care [about Bo Nickal beating Cody Brundage]. I don't care for Cody Brundage very much. I think we saw some potential holes in Bo Nickal's game. Bo Nickal finally got a guy he couldn't just do what he wanted with."
Check out Robert Whittaker's comments below: