Highly-rated prospect Bo Nickal is gearing up to fight on his second pay-per-view fight at UFC 290. He was initially booked to fight Tresean Gore. However, ‘Mr. Vicious’ withdrew from the fight due to a wrist injury. In a late replacement, the 3-time NCAA champion will take on Val Woodburn, who was initially set to fight on Dana White‘s Contender Series.

Tresean Gore announced that he will not compete at UFC 290 due to a wrist injury. He will have to undergo surgery on the scaphoid bone. This prompted Dana White to call up Jamaican fighter Val Woodburn, who boasts an undefeated 7-o record.

Bo Nickal gets a new opponent

Middleweight veteran Chris Curtis took to Twitter to express his happiness over the fact that his friend and teammate, Val Woodburn, finally got the opportunity to fight in the UFC. He was originally set to face Marco Tulio on DWCS in August. However, it seems as if fate had a better plan for the Jamaican. Curtis said, “Happy for my guy Val. Good friend and teammate. He deserves his shot.”

Furthermore, ‘The Action Man’ also revealed his experience of sparring with Woodburn, claiming that it is impossible to attempt a double-leg takedown on the Jamaican. He stated that Woodburn was like a fire hydrant. Curtis added, “It’s hard to double-leg a fire hydrant, trust me I’ve tried and Val is coming to scrap.” Let us take a look at what the fans had to say.

Fans react to Nickal’s new UFC 290 opponent

Reactions from UFC fans to the late replacement for Tresean Gore were very one-sided as they crowded the comments section of Chris Curtis’ tweet.

One fan wishes to see Bo Nickal pick up his first loss in the promotion. After that, he may consider supporting the former NCAA champion.

However, a Twitter user believes that Bo Nickal will dominate Val Woodburn at UFC 290.

Another fan expressed his wish to see the former 3-time NCAA champion take on a top 15 fighter if he wins at UFC 290.

Meanwhile, a Twitter user replied to Chris Curtis, claiming that Nickal will easily take down the “fire hydrant” and follow it up by taking him down in the future.

One fan wonders if the fight between Nickal and Woodburn was a pre-planned fight.

Another fan claimed that the reason Chris Curtis could not take down the Jamaican fighter was that he is not an NCAA champion.

However, the fans are excited to see these two go at each other on July 9th.

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Bo Nickal was victorious in his first PPV bout. However, the fight was surrounded by controversy, but the 27-year-old prospect will look to redeem himself this weekend and grab the victory and prove his mettle inside the Octagon. We will have to wait and see how that pans out.

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