Bo Nickal needs a new opponent for UFC 290, which is scheduled for Saturday, July 8.
Bo Nickal is need of a new opponent for this weekend’s UFC 290 card, sources say.
His opponent Tresean Gore is out due to injury.
UFC is working on keeping Nickal on the card, I’m told. Hoping to finalize a new bout today.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 4, 2023
The show must go on…
— Bo Nickal (@NoBickal) July 4, 2023
Nickal, who’s 1-0 in the UFC and 4-0 in his professional MMA career, was slated to have his second UFC fight against Tresean Gore (5-2).
But Gore has withdrawn due to injury, and now, Nickal will have to fight somebody else.
Gore announced via Instagram that he cannot fight due to a wrist injury, and now, Nickal will have to find somebody else to fight on less than a week’s notice. UFC insider Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC is working on finding a new opponent for Nickal and hopes to have one by the time the Fourth of July is over.
Nickal’s first UFC fIght didn’t last long. Nickal (1-0) beat Jamie Pickett (13-9) with a submission 2:54 into the first round. This moved him to 4-0 in his professional MMA career. Nickal’s fights have lasted a combined five and a half minutes.
Neither of Nickal’s scheduled UFC bouts have gone without a hitch. The Penn State great, who won three national championships and was a national runner-up the year he didn’t win, was supposed to fight Pickett in December. But an injury forced Nickal to withdraw.
At Penn State, Bo Nickal ended his career 120-3, becoming a four-time All-American and winning the 2019 Hodge Trophy, which is wrestling’s version of the Heisman.
Regardless of whether Nickal ends up fighting Saturday, he’s expected to have plenty of fights in the future. The combination of his wrestling pedigree, MMA promise and his social media has presence makes him a potential big time player in Dana White’s organization, and Penn State fans are excited to see how it plays out.
