A blazing-hot Ultimate Fighting Championship prospect is
going to need to cool things down to heal up.
According to
MMA Junkie on Friday, Bo Nickal
(3-0) will no longer be competing at
UFC 282 on Dec. 10. His middleweight match against Jamie
Pickett (12-8) has been nixed from the event due to an injury
Nickal suffered during training. It is unclear at this time if
Pickett will be rebooked against a new opponent, or if the matchup
will be preserved. The organization is considering March 4 for
Nickal’s return, which is rumored to be the pay-per-view offering
of UFC 285. The fight scratch has since been confirmed by
other outlets.
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Nickal, oft-discussed as one of the greatest collegiate wrestlers
ever, surged into MMA in 2021 with a pair of speedy finishes on the
amateur circuit. The Colorado-born Nickal then debuted as pro in
June 2022 on iKon Fighting Championship 3, where he decimated
John
Noland in 33 seconds. The 26-year-old, with one pro win under
his belt, joined the 2022 season of Dana White’s Contender Series, and he ran
roughshod over Zachary
Borrego in 62 seconds to get another shot on DWCS nearly two
months later. A 52-second triangle choke of Donovan
Beard punched his ticket to the promotion, with only 2:07 of
combined professional MMA experience under his belt.
While Nickal has surged, Pickett has struggled as of late, dropping
his last two this year by stoppage to Kyle
Daukaus and Denis
Tiuliulin. “The Nightwolf” also made his way to the UFC from a
Contender Series victory, although it took him three tries to get
there – Pickett fell short to Charles
Byrd on the very first DWCS episode, and then returned on the
first episode of Season 3 to lose to Punahele
Soriano as well. A knockout of Jhonoven
Pati proved enough to earn a contract, although he has amassed
just two wins inside the Octagon over Laureano
Staropoli and Joseph
Holmes opposite four defeats.
UFC 282 will carry on at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec.
10, with a light heavyweight championship headliner and rematch in
tow between Jiri
Prochazka and Glover
Teixeira. The remainder of the lineup has not yet been made
official, but expected main card tilts include a heavyweight rumble
between Chris
Daukaus and Jairzinho
Rozenstruik, a 205-pound affair pitting former champ Jan
Blachowicz against rising talent Magomed
Ankalaev, and pairing of Darren Till
vs. Dricus Du
Plessis at middleweight.