"UFC is protecting him too much" - Fans react to Bo Nickal's rumored next fight after UFC Saudi Arabia miss

Bo Nickal has not returned to the octagon since defeating Cody Brundage via second-round submission to open the main card of UFC 300. The rising middleweight prospect is rumored to have an opponent for his return to the octagon.

Brunno Ferreira, who called Nickal out after his first-round spinning-back elbow knockout victory over Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC on ESPN 57, revealed that the former collegiate wrestler will reportedly face Rodolfo Vieira next. Speaking to Marcelo Alonso of Sherdog, 'The Hulk' stated:

"We are both national team level fighters in our styles and I truly believe judo has [many] more weapons for MMA than wrestling, and I was going to prove that against him, but I found out, after the event, that he will face Rodolfo Vieira, 100%." [h/t Sherdog]

Home of Fight shared the rumored bout on their Instagram, noting that the two are expected to clash at UFC 309, which is set to take place at Madison Square Garden in November.

Check out the post from Home of Fight below:

Fans shared their reaction to the bout. @lucci_exit9 suggested that the promotion is protecting Nickal:

"I like Bo Nickal, but the UFC is protecting him too much with these super spaced out fight dates and easy match ups. Give the kid a ranked fight since he touts he can beat khamzat so easily"

@hayjivepicks shared a similar sentiment:

"5 months to train for Rodolfo Viera, UFC not taking any risks"

@danyal.nn1 questioned:

"November?? We are in fu**ing june, why wait 5 months?"

@goldenmandingo is looking forward to the matchup:

"American Wrestling vs Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I love it !"

Check out the best fan reactions below:

Fan reactions

Bo Nickal missed an opportunity to fight at UFC Saudi Arabia

The UFC will make their first trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this upcoming weekend when Robert Whittaker faces Ikram Aliskerov in the main event of UFC on ABC 6. 'The Reaper' had originally been set to face Khamzat Chimaev. However, 'Borz' was forced to withdraw due to an illness.

Speaking on his podcast Nickals and Dimes, Bo Nickal revealed that he missed a call to step in, stating:

"I did get a call. Unfortunately, I got a call while I was in the mountains of Montana and I didn't get back to cell service for three days. I came back into cell service to a few text messages saying, 'call me back, call me back, call me back' and it was too late."

Check out Bo Nickal's full comments on replacing Khamzat Chimaev below:

Whittaker would have represented an interesting challenge for Nickal as a win would have led to him entering the top-five of the middleweight rankings. Instead, however, fans will likely have to wait a few more months to see the three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion return to the octagon.