Bo Nickal vs. Joe Pyfer Moves From UFC 335 to a Cleveland Headliner

One of the middleweight matchups announced for UFC 335 is no longer on the December card. Bo Nickal had been set to face Joe Pyfer at the Dec. 12 event in Las Vegas, but Nickal revealed on Thursday that the bout has been moved to February and will headline a UFC card in Cleveland.

Announced at a campaign event

Nickal shared the news while appearing on stage in support of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio. He told the audience he had received a call backstage with an update about his December fight.

It actually got moved to February, where I'm going to be main eventing in Cleveland.

The UFC has not yet announced a date for the fight, so the exact February event remains to be confirmed.

Two Contender Series graduates

Nickal (9-1) is coming off a knockout of middleweight veteran Kyle Daukaus at UFC Freedom 250, the event held at the White House. The former NCAA wrestling standout has gone 6-1 in the UFC since earning his contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2022. His only professional loss came against Reinier de Ridder, and he has followed it with back-to-back wins over Daukaus and Rodolfo Vieira. All of his victories except one, a decision over Paul Craig, have come inside the distance.

Pyfer (16-3) also reached the UFC through the Contender Series and arrives on a four-fight winning streak. His most recent victory came against former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

The change takes the fight off the December card, which is still headlined by Charles Oliveira against Diego Lopes for the BMF title.