The first stop on the Bo Nickal tour is going to have to wait a little while.
The recent UFC signee has withdrawn from his much-anticipated debut against Jamie Pickett at UFC 282 in December due to an undisclosed injury. Nolan King of MMA Junkie was the first to report the now-canceled fight.
Additional reporting from Mike Heck and Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting revealed that the promotion will keep the pairing intact, opting to move it to the rumored pay-per-view event of UFC 285, which is scheduled for March 4, 2023.
The three-time NCAA Division I National Champion went pro in 2022, going 3-0 in his first three fights. Following a 33-second KO of John Noland at Jorge Masvidal’s iKon FC 3 in June, Nickal was invited to Dana White’s Contender Series and competed twice. In his first appearance, the American Top Team product needed a little over a minute to submit Zachary Borrego with a rear-naked choke. As impressive as the win was, UFC president Dana White still wanted to see more from Nickal, so he invited him on again to compete on the final episode of the most recent season.
This time, the ‘Allen Assassin’ needed less than a minute to tap Donovan Beard with a triangle choke. That was enough for White and co. to sign the undefeated prospect and prepare him for his debut by the end of the year.
Pickett has gone 1-2 in 2022. The fellow Contender Series alum started the year with a unanimous decision over Joseph Holmes, but fell to Kyle Daukaus and Denis Tiuliulin at UFC Vegas 48 and UFC 279, respectively.
UFC 282 is headlined by a light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiří Procházka and Glover Teixeira.
