Bo Nickal vs Yoel Romero rebooked for RAF 16 in Long Island on December 19
Real American Freestyle has booked Bo Nickal vs Yoel Romero for a third time, now for RAF 16 on December 19 in Long Island, after the RAF 4 and RAF 5 versions fell through.
Bo Nickal and Yoel Romero are booked to wrestle each other again. Real American Freestyle (RAF) announced on Tuesday, November 10, that the UFC middleweight contender will face the former UFC title challenger at RAF 16, which takes place on Saturday, December 19, in Long Island, New York. The event will stream on Fox Nation, according to RAF.
"IT'S HAPPENING," the promotion wrote on X. "Bo Nickal takes on Yoel Romero DEC 19 in Long Island at #RAF16."
Third time lucky?
This is the third time RAF matchmakers have put Nickal vs Romero together, MMA Fighting noted. The two were first scheduled to meet at RAF 4 last December, but Nickal withdrew from that event for undisclosed reasons. The match was then moved to RAF 5 in January as the co-main event, and it fell through again when Romero missed weight.
According to MMA Fighting, this time the matchup is set as a catchweight crossover bout.
Bo Nickal
Nickal, 30, is currently ranked in the top 15 of the UFC middleweight division. He won three NCAA Division I national titles at Penn State before moving to MMA in 2021.
His last RAF appearance went well. In September he beat 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shirvani Muradov by decision.
Nickal also has a big UFC date coming up. In October he said his middleweight fight with Joe Pyfer had been moved off UFC 335 in December and would instead headline a UFC event in Cleveland in February. The RAF match in December lands in the gap before that fight.
Yoel Romero
Romero is 49. In the UFC he was a perennial middleweight title contender, and he went the distance in losses to champions Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
He last competed in MMA in 2024, when he beat fellow UFC veteran Thiago Santos at a PFL vs. Bellator event. Since then "Soldier of God" has competed under several rule sets, including bare-knuckle boxing and freestyle wrestling, with mixed results. In September he lost a bare-knuckle fight to Darren Till, and his most recent RAF appearance ended in a tech-fall loss to Stephen Buchanan.
Why it matters
MMA Fighting called it a highly anticipated matchup between two of the best wrestlers ever to compete in MMA: a three-time NCAA champion in his prime against a veteran who spent years near the top of the UFC middleweight division. After two cancellations, fans will be hoping this one finally makes it to the mat. The age gap is large, but Romero's wrestling pedigree is the reason the match keeps getting booked.
RAF 16 is one of several RAF events in the coming weeks. RAF also runs an Abu Dhabi card on November 14 and RAF 15 in Chicago on November 28.
Source: Real American Freestyle on X: Bo Nickal vs Yoel Romero at RAF 16, Dec 19, Long Island, MMA Fighting: Bo Nickal vs. Yoel Romero rescheduled for RAF 16, MMA Fighting on X: Bo Nickal vs. Yoel Romero rescheduled for RAF 16, POP MMA: Bo Nickal says Joe Pyfer fight moved to UFC Cleveland in February.