"Whoever removed Nickal from the main card needs a raise" - Fans celebrate as UFC star is shunted to UFC 322 prelims 

Bo Nickal’s fall from main card status has become one of the more talked-about moves ahead of UFC 322. The highly touted prospect will face Rodolfo Vieira on the preliminary card at Madison Square Garden.

The placement is a sharp shift for a fighter once positioned as a rising pay-per-view draw. Nickal, who suffered his first professional defeat earlier this year to Reinier de Ridder, now looks to rebuild momentum against one of the division’s most respected submission specialists.

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The reshuffle has been met with approval from fans who felt Nickal had been fast-tracked without proving himself against ranked competition. One fan wrote:

"Whoever removed Nickal from the main card needs a raise."

Meanwhile, other fans wrote:

"Bo Nickal demoted to prelims, whomp whomp." "So Bo got moved off of the main card?" "Bo Nickal off the main card is a massive W. Give that person who made that decision a raise, Dana." "Looks good ever since they moved the Bo Nickal fight to the prelims and put [Beniel] Dariush vs. BSD [Benoit Saint Denis] on the main card." "The fans won the battle. Bo Nickal got demoted to the prelims #UFC322"

Check out some of the fan reactions below:

Fans react to Bo Nickal's fight placement on UFC 322 prelims card. [Screenshots courtesy: @ufc on X]

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Jorge Masvidal backs Bo Nickal to bounce back at UFC 322

Jorge Masvidal believes Bo Nickal’s wrestling remains one of the most dangerous weapons in the middleweight division despite his recent setback. Nickal’s loss to Reinier de Ridder at UFC on ESPN 67 has seemingly slowed down his rise.

The former NCAA champion has since realigned his approach at American Top Team to work on his striking to complement his grappling pedigree. Speaking in a recent episode of the Death Row MMA podcast, Masvidal said:

"Yes, he's an elite wrestler, and he's one of the best ever, but still. They could have taken their time a little bit more with Bo. I think if he changes up a thing here, changes up a thing there, this guy is like a legitimate world-class problem. There's not a guy that can stop his takedown, not [Khamzat] Chimaev, not nobody, bro. When he's on and he's just wrestling and letting it go, nobody's going to be able to stop his takedowns. These last two, three months, he's really been focusing on his standup and getting it dialed in."

Edited by Abhishek Nambiar