Report: Bo Nickal needs new fight at UFC 290 after opponent drops out due to injury

Bo Nickal reportedly needs a new fight to stay on the UFC 290 card Saturday, per Ariel Helwani. Tresean Gore, Nickal’s scheduled opponent, is out due to injury.

“Bo Nickal is need of a new opponent for this weekend’s UFC 290 card, sources say,” Helwani wrote on Twitter. “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.”

Nickal is 4-0 in MMA and won his UFC debut back in March against Jamie Pickett via arm triangle submission. So far, he’s a fast riser throughout the promotion and could very well be a superstar at middleweight (185 pounds).

As Helwani reported, it remains to be seen if Nickal will stay on a loaded pay-per-view card this coming weekend.

The former Penn State three-time wrestling national champion made no secret about his goals in UFC.

He had instant championship aspirations. Nickal previously called out middleweight champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira for their lack of grappling skills.

At that time, Pereira TKO’d Adesanya to claim the belt. Adesanya would get it back in April.

“That’s a relatively, I would say – I’m not going to say ‘easy’ fight, because he’s dangerous,” Nickal said of Pereira in February. “But as far styles go, that’s a great matchup for me. I’ve watched their fight a couple times, and the grappling (is where I’d win). The striking exchanges are super impressive – that goes without saying. They’re absolutely elite strikers. But when they get ahold of each other, it’s just almost, like, funny.

Pereira is set to move up to light heavyweight while Nickal begins his climb up the middleweight division.

Nickal attempted to make the USA Olympic Wrestling Team in 2021, but fell short of a team spot to fellow former Penn State national champion David Taylor, who went on to win a gold medal last summer. Nickal fully turned his attention to MMA, opening up an American Top Team gym near Penn State’s campus, training regularly with UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal.

In his four seasons at Penn State, Nickal compiled a 120-3 record, won three NCAA titles (two at 184 pounds and one at 197 pounds), was a four-time All-American (national finalist in 2016 at 174 pounds) and finished his career on a 67-match winning streak.