Well, that was quick.
Just hours after it was confirmed that originally-scheduled opponent Tresean Gore was forced to withdraw from this Saturday’s UFC 290 event in Las Vegas, the UFC has handed Bo Nickal a new opponent for what will be the sophomore UFC bout for one of the sport’s biggest prospects.
Numerous reports online have stated that Gore will be replaced by the 7-0 Val Woodburn in the main card fight to take place this weekend in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Woodburn, 29, is unbeaten in his professional career, following a 5-2-1 record in the amateurs and h. s won a regional middleweight title. He had been expected to compete in an upcoming fight on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Nickal, meanwhile, will look to move to 5-0 this weekend. His first official bout for the organisation came in March, where he submitted Jamie Pickett with around two minutes remaining in the first round of their UFC 285 matchup. The former Penn State wrestler is considered to be one of the brightest up and comers in all of mixed martial arts. He is a three-time NCAA Division I national champion, and has been near-faultless in his brief MMA career so far, which has also seen him score two quickfire wins on the Dana White Contender Series.
He has opened as a significant favourite over Woodburn in this weekend’s fight.
UFC 290 will be headlined by a featherweight world title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez, while Brandon Moreno also defends his flyweight title in a rematch against Alexandre Pantoja.
