After Bo Nickal made a solid comeback at UFC 322 with a head kick over Rodolfo Vieira, everyone thought he would take some rest to figure out what comes next. Instead, the Penn State native shocked everyone with a quick turnaround, but not inside the cage. On December 20, Nickal was scheduled to face UFC legend Yoel Romero, known for his aggressive fighting style, at the RAF 4 event. Unfortunately, that matchup fizzled out after the former NCAA champ withdrew because of undisclosed reasons. So what happens next?

“Real American Freestyle announces Bo Nickal will no longer compete at RAF 4 for undisclosed reasons.” MMA Fighting posted on X.

Well, Bo Nickal held the RAF light heavyweight title, which he earned after defeating Izzy Martinez, so him pulling out definitely hurt the event. However, the event still moves forward with NCAA wrestler Pat Downey replacing him against Romero. Still, the UFC 185 lbs contender missed the chance to avenge his coach by withdrawing from the fight with ‘Soldier of God.’

In 2003, Yoel Romero defeated Nickal’s Penn State coach Cael Sanderson in a wrestling match, a loss Sanderson avenged in a 2004 Olympic wrestling bout. So, because of that 1-1 score, there is definitely a rivalry between them. With that in mind, the UFC middleweight actually missed the chance to settle the score in a grudge match.

Henry Cejudo had described their encounter as the “BIGGEST MATCH in @rafwrestlingusa history.” He named the match as the clash of ‘Veteran Vs the New School.’

This amazing matchup now scrapped, the RAF event takes another big hit as several championship fights fall apart. The headliner, Mason Parris vs Wyatt Hendrickson for the RAF heavyweight title, remains intact. But the lightweight title fight between Yianni Diakomihalis and Austin Gomez no longer moves forward because the promotion postponed it for undisclosed injury reasons. Also, the strawweight championship fight between Sarah Hildebrandt and Maria Prevolaraki suffered the same fate.

Moreover, former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad’s title fight against David Carr was turned into a normal fight. Because of these mishaps, fans labeled it a cursed wrestling card. But that’s not all, they shared plenty of reactions as well, mostly calling out Bo Nickal for not fighting Yoel Romero. 

Bo Nickal faces heat as he withdraws from the Yoel Romero fight  

A fan noticed the string of canceled fights on this card and wrote, “That card is cursed. That’s the 3rd championship match that got scrapped (4 if we’re considering Belal’s match being changed to a non-title).” Which is definitely correct! The card has seen some terrible cancelations and even some mysterious ones if we consider Nickal’s unexplained withdrawal.

Then another fan chimed in and trolled the UFC middleweight, writing, “Bo got scared? I would too.” Well, Yoel Romero already carries a scary reputation because of his violent fighting approach and his intimidating physique, which Joe Rogan believes was made in a Cuban lab experiment. But it is still hard to believe that Nickal would actually get scared, given that he is a former Olympian.

Maintaining that same energy, another fan wrote, “Ducking Romero,” which was followed by another harsh comment, “Once a quitter, always a quitter.”

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Now, the quitter reference might come from the former NCAA champ’s first pro loss against Reinier de Ridder at UFC Des Moines, where Nickal could not continue fighting after absorbing some heavy shots. However, in the wave of harsh comments, one fan shared a more concerned take.

“Surprised by the news, hope he’s okay,” the user wrote, possibly suspecting an injury on Bo’s end. Honestly, the Penn State native suffering an injury before stepping into the arena to wrestle Romero also stands as a real possibility here. But we are still yet to receive any updates from him or his team.

That said, as the late Hulk Hogan’s promotion scrapped one of its most anticipated wrestling matches, do you think the remaining event still delivers enough excitement? Let us know in the comments section below.