Undefeated UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal has his latest assignment in the calendar.
Nickal (7-0) has won all four of his Octagon appearances to date since a pair of victories on Dana White’s Contender Series to net a contract back in 2023.
After submissions of Jamie Pickett and Cody Brundage sandwiched a knockout of Val Woodburn, the three-time NCAA Division I national champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of Pennsylvania State University was taken to the scorecards for the first time.
Nevertheless, the 29-year-old got the nod over Paul Craig at UFC 309 last November, and he now has his first opportunity at ranked opposition this year.
The UFC confirmed this week that Bo Nickal will co-headline the UFC Fight Night in Des Moines on May 3, sharing the cage with #13-ranked middleweight contender Reinier de Ridder (19-2).
News of the booking was first reported by Sporting News’ Val Dewar.
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De Ridder, too, is yet to taste defeat on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage. The Dutchman has won both of his UFC contests since jumping ship from ONE Championship, where he had reigned as a two-division champion.
After a somewhat lackluster debut win over Gerald Meerschaert in late 2024, de Ridder opened his account for 2025 with a rapid first-round submission of Kevin Holland at UFC 311 in Los Angeles.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at UFC Des Moines on May 3 are as follows:
- Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (bantamweight)
- Reinier de Ridder vs. Bo Nickal (middleweight)
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson (women’s strawweight)
- Jeremy Stephens vs. Mason Jones (lightweight)
- Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista (bantamweight)
- Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate (women’s bantamweight)
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez (welterweight)
- Montel Jackson vs. Daniel Marcos (bantamweight)
- JeongYeong Lee vs. Trevor Peek (featherweight)
- Cameron Smotherman vs. Serhiy Sidey (bantamweight)
- Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Toccos (heavyweight)
- Azamat Bekoev vs. Ryan Loder (middleweight)
