Bo Nickal walked into RAF 12 with one of the biggest names on the Cleveland grappling card, and with years of wrestling hype following him around the same freestyle lane where Yoel Romero vs. Bo Nickal had once been booked at RAF 5. He left with a rare scar after Max McEnelly beat him 3-2 on Saturday night, handing the UFC middleweight his first wrestling loss since the 2020 Olympic trials.
The result is an odd little earthquake because Nickal is not some MMA guy dabbling in wrestling for attention. He is a three-time NCAA champion, a Penn State hammer, and a ranked UFC middleweight whose grappling reputation has always done half the talking before the cage door even closes. McEnelly, the 2026 NCAA champion from Minnesota, gave up size and still made the match nasty in all the right ways.
Watch the source clip below.
Max McEnelly Made Nickal Chase Late
Nickal opened with a passivity point, but McEnelly found the score that mattered. He hit a slick go-behind, put Nickal on his belly, and grabbed the only takedown of the match. When Nickal later failed to create enough offense on the shot clock, McEnelly picked up another point and forced the UFC middleweight into desperation mode.
Nickal did get one more passivity point back, which made the final minute feel like a panic scramble. He kept shooting, trying to catch McEnelly’s legs or force him out, but McEnelly stayed just slippery enough. That is the part that makes this one sting. Nickal did not get launched or embarrassed. He got carefully edged by a younger wrestler who refused to make the mistake everyone was waiting for.
RAF’s official match announcement shows the matchup that produced the upset.
THIS MATCH UP🔥
Bo Nickal takes on Max McEnelly August 22 in Cleveland at RAF12.
Tickets in bio. Stream exclusively on @foxnation pic.twitter.com/loEWdeb5pZ
— Real American Freestyle (@RAFWrestlingUSA) June 22, 2026
McEnelly sounded like a man who knew exactly what kind of name he had just put on the wall after the final whistle.
“There’s a new star in this organization,” McEnelly said after the win. “I’m coming for the belt. He’s a great wrestler. It finally came and it feels good to get the win. He’s a good competitor. He’s one of those top level guys.”
For Nickal, this does not wreck his MMA future. It does put a dent in the aura that travels with his wrestling continue. The same fighter who once vowed to rag doll Khamzat Chimaev in a future UFC fight now has a fresh reminder that wrestling is still a brutal room when the other guy is elite.
RAF also gets exactly what a freestyle promotion wants, a result people will actually argue about the next morning. This wrestling branch has already made noise with names like Yoel Romero and Pat Downey, and McEnelly just stole the loudest headline of the bunch. If Nickal asks for a rematch, nobody is going to need a long sales pitch.
