Bo Nickal won’t be fighting on the UFC 322 main card. Yes, you read that right. The promotion has made some changes to the card, and though he will still face Rodolfo Vieira on November 15, it just won’t happen on the pay-per-view.

Latest reports confirm that the UFC 322 main card will now kick off with 155-pounders Beneil Dariush vs. Benoit Saint-Denis. “🚨 Bo Nickal vs Rodolfo Vieira has been demoted to the prelims of #UFC322 Beneil Dariush vs Benoit Saint-Denis will now open the main card,” Championship Rounds wrote on X.

When the original bout order was released, fans were unhappy as they felt Nickal didn’t have much fight experience in the UFC to hold that spot. And this wasn’t a new sentiment. It had been festering for a while. After all, all five of Nickal’s UFC appearances have been on the main card.

And so, the promotion seems to have listened to fans and changed the order.

Meanwhile, the card features two major title fights at Madison Square Garden: Jack Della Maddalena vs Islam Makhachev for the welterweight title, and Valentina Shevchenko vs Zhang Weili for the women’s flyweight crown.

Among the lightweight fighters, both Dariush and Saint-Denis bring considerable experience to the octagon, with the former standing out as a UFC veteran of over a decade. His reliability and proven track record make him the ideal replacement for the spot originally expected for Bo Nickal, who must now prove himself in the prelims against Brazil’s Rodolfo Vieira.

Although the American fighter has been away from the Octagon since his loss to Reinier de Ridder in May, the middleweight contender returned in September to compete in an RAF wrestling match against Jacob Cardenas. He earned a decision win.

Nickal currently holds a 4-1 record in the UFC. He leaped Dana White’s Contender Series after just one pro MMA fight, a rapid rise that many believe fueled some early overconfidence.

Bo Nickal admits he was arrogant

After his first professional MMA loss, critics like Joe Pyfer, Darren Till, and fans alike didn’t hold back in targeting Bo Nickal. An internet meme campaign emerged mocking the 29-year-old American star.

Nickal had previously gone viral for saying he would prefer to “retire,” rather than fight on the UFC prelims. At the time, he saw himself as a superstar, believing that his status as a three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion guaranteed him a spot on the UFC main card. And that attitude drew further criticism from fans.

Since then, things have changed. The loss to Reinier de Ridder last summer appears to have humbled the American star. Reflecting on the experience during an appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show in October, Nickal said, “I remember the specific instance when you asked me if I was going to be on the ‘Prelims,’ and I scoffed at it. I was definitely arrogant, but there was a little bit of truth to that in my position, but at the same time, it was arrogant. So, now I don’t really care where I fight. If UFC wants to put me first on the fight card, then I’m happy to do it.”

Now that he finds himself back on the prelims, what do you think about Bo Nickal’s future with Dana White and the UFC? Can the American star regain the momentum he once had? Let us know in the comments below.