Bo Nickal vs. Joe Pyfer is no longer happening at UFC 335. Nickal announced that the middleweight fight, booked for the Dec. 12 pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, has been pushed back. He and Pyfer will now headline a UFC Fight Night in Cleveland in February. Championship Rounds passed the news along on X. The announcement didn’t include an exact February date or a reason for the move.
That’s a real shift for both men. In December they were one bout among several on a stacked Vegas card. In February the whole night belongs to them.
UFC 335 still has plenty without them. The updated lineup MMA Fighting published Wednesday has Charles Oliveira vs. Diego Lopes for the “BMF” title at lightweight on top, with Sergei Pavlovich vs. Alex Pereira, Brandon Moreno vs. Charles Johnson, Maycee Barber vs. Carli Judice and Quentin Pasley vs. Junior Tafa also on the bill. Barber (15-3) vs. Judice (7-2) was only added that same day, so the December card was still being built when this fight left it.
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Nickal’s last appearance came at UFC White House, where he finished Kyle Daukaus in the first round. MMA Mania described it as Nickal taking Daukaus apart with ease. Daukaus is back this Saturday, Oct. 17, against Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC Edmonton, so the most recent man Nickal beat gets to answer some questions before Nickal fights again.
The bigger picture at 185 is murky. Sean Strickland beat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328 in May, handing Chimaev the first loss of his career. MMA Fighting reported that Strickland looks more likely to rematch top contender Nassourdine Imavov than Chimaev, assuming Strickland fights at all, given his public grievances with the UFC over pay. Until that’s sorted, the top of the division is on hold. MMA Fighting pointed to Caio Borralho vs. Yousri Belgaroui at UFC 334 and Nickal vs. Pyfer as the matchups that could shake things up in the meantime. Brendan Allen is in that mix too. He’s won four straight after a fifth-round submission of Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122 and is calling for Dricus du Plessis.
I like this move for Nickal and Pyfer. On Dec. 12 they’d have been fighting for attention behind Oliveira, Lopes and Pereira, and a lot of people would’ve remembered that night for the BMF belt. In Cleveland nobody gets to look past them. My one request is that they fight like headliners. I’ve sat through enough main events that drag on long past the point where anyone cares, and these two have no excuse for that. The last time Nickal was on a big stage, Daukaus didn’t make it out of Round 1.
