Joe Pyfer Defends UFC’s Decision to Match Him Up With Bo Nickal

Middleweight is the talk of the UFC right now. Champion Sean Strickland is caught up in a drama over his pay, and now Bo Nickal vs. Joe Pyfer has landed on top of it. Fans didn't take the announcement well. Pyfer had just beaten Israel Adesanya by knockout, and many expected a bigger fight as a result. Nickal, on the other hand, is still ranked 11th in the division, and he lost badly to Reinier de Ridder two fights back, which hurt his reputation in the eyes of many fans.

Joe Pyfer Explains Why His Fight Against Bo Nickal Makes Perfect Sense

Pyfer says he wasn't expecting Nickal when the UFC offered him the fight, but he was very excited once he heard it. He thinks it's a great matchup and doesn't understand why everybody is so confused by the matchmaking. In his view, the division is kind of stuck, and the fight makes a lot of sense.

In his words, “I don't understand why everybody's so confused by the matchmaking, the division's kind of stuck. I think the fight makes sense a lot. Yeah, I wasn't expecting Bo at all, to be honest, but I was very excited about it. I think it's a great fight.”

To remind everyone, Nickal has lost just one fight in his whole career, and he has finished around 90 percent of his opponents. He has beaten Kyle Daukaus and Paul Craig, among others. At one point, he was even in talks to fight Khamzat Chimaev, as he was expected to get a big name next.

Bo Nickal vs. Joe Pyfer Postponed: UFC Fight Delayed

Nickal and Pyfer were first booked for UFC 335 in December, but the fight has been pushed to a UFC Cleveland card in February 2027. Nickal tweaked something and needed more time to heal.

Pyfer, meanwhile, says he turned down a fight with Anthony Hernandez at UFC 335 because he would rather wait for Nickal. His reasoning is simple. Hernandez is on a winning streak, while Nickal is coming off a loss, and in Pyfer's view it makes more sense to wait for the second one.

Fans have been even more frustrated by this, since Hernandez is ranked higher and was seen as the better matchup for Pyfer. Still, a fight between Pyfer and Nickal should be an interesting one to watch.