PAUL CRAIG failed to stop Bo Nickal’s seemingly unstoppable rise up the middleweight ranks.

The Scot locked horns with the highly-touted prospect on a stacked UFC 309 main card in Madison Square Garden early this morning.

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Craig entered the showdown with the American wrestler a whopping 11/1 underdog thanks to back-to-back losses to Johnny Walker and Caio Borralho.

But he failed to pull off a sensational submission to bounce the Dana White signed star from the ranks of the unbeaten, suffering a unanimous decision defeat.

There was no touch of gloves between the pair, which was unsurprising given the tension between them during fight week.

Nickal was hesitant to utilise his wrestling early doors in a show of respect to Craig’s jiu-jitsu, opting to strike with leg kicks from range.

Craig staggered the American with a good low calf kick just a minute and a half into the stanza before landing a good right hand.

Chants of “Bo, Bo, Bo” began to ring out as the MSG crowd tried to get behind their man, who narrowly avoided a head kick before the final minute of the stanza.

Two big overhand lefts from Nickal reminded Craig to remind his Ps and Qs just before the end of the first.

Two big overhand lefts from Nickal reminded Craig to remind his Ps and Qs just before the end of the first.

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Craig tried to bait Nickal into taking him down with heavy hip thrust feints after the restart but the wrestler wasn’t having any of it.

Nickal instead looked to find a home for his straight left but struggled to find the target.

Craig himself struggled to land anything of note but leg kicks from range as he seemed hesitant to engage in the pocket.

A thunderous straight left found a home on Craig’s chin with a minute of the stanza remaining but he took the shot well.

Nickal rattled the chin of Craig again in the third but the Scot ate it like a packed lunch.

Fans started booing just before the two-minute mark due to a lack of ground action from the grappling experts.

And they turned on Nickal towards the end of the fight, shouting overrated until the final horn.

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