Bo Nickal v Yoel Romero is back on for RAF 16 after a withdrawal and a missed weight

Real American Freestyle has booked the pair for a third time, for 19 December in Long Island, New York. Nickal pulled out of the first date and Romero missed weight for the second.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Tue 10 Nov, 21:13 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Yoel Romero and Bo Nickal face off at a Real American Freestyle event — Photo: MMA Fighting

Bo Nickal will wrestle Yoel Romero at RAF 16 on Saturday 19 December in Long Island, New York, the third time Real American Freestyle has booked the fight. RAF announced the catchweight crossover bout on Tuesday.

The pair were first set to meet at RAF 4 last December, but Nickal withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The fight was rescheduled as the co-main event of RAF 5 in January and fell through again when Romero missed weight.

Nickal, 30, is a top-15 UFC middleweight and won three NCAA Division I titles at Penn State before moving to MMA in 2021. In his last RAF outing in September he beat 2008 Olympic gold medallist Shirvani Muradov on a decision.

The RAF date comes a week after UFC 335 on 12 December, where Nickal had been booked to face Joe Pyfer. Nickal has said that fight has moved to a February main event in Cleveland, and has said the move was down to an injury he has been dealing with since January or February.

Romero, 49, lost to Darren Till by unanimous decision at BKFC 94 in Manchester in September, and his last RAF appearance ended in a technical-fall defeat to Stephen Buchanan. His last MMA fight was a win over Thiago Santos at a PFL vs Bellator event in 2024. In the UFC he was a perennial middleweight title contender and went the distance in defeats to Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.

In this story

Bo Nickal Yoel Romero Joe Pyfer Darren Till Israel Adesanya Robert Whittaker