Bo Nickal fight at UFC 290 in jeopardy after Tresean Gore withdraws with injury

UPDATE: Gore has withdrawn from the bout last-minute with a wrist injury and UFC has tapped Octagon newcomer, Val Woodburn, as a +1200 replacement.

UFC 290 has just taken another last-minute hit affecting another top prospect.

Three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion, Bo Nickal, was originally supposed to face Tresean Gore on this weekend’s pay-per-view (PPV) card from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada; however, that fight has been scratched with just four days to go.

LIVE! Watch UFC 293 PPV On ESPN+ Here!

MASSIVE MIDDLEWEIGHT MATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) makes its highly anticipated return to Sydney, Australia, for the first time in five years on Sat., Sept. 9, 2023, with a 185-pound world title fight inside Qudos Bank Arena. In the ESPN+-streamed pay-per-view (PPV) main event, Middleweight roost-ruler, Israel Adesanya, plans to silence No. 5-seeded contender, Sean Strickland. In UFC 293’s hard-hitting Heavyweight co-main event, No-6-ranked fan favorite, Tai Tuivasa, locks horns with towering Russian, Alexander Volkov (No. 8).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

• STREAM UFC 293

“Bo Nickal is need of a new opponent for this weekend’s UFC 290 card, sources say,” reporter Ariel Helwani wrote on Twitter. “His opponent Tresean Gore is out due to injury. UFC is working on keeping Nickal on the card, I’m told. Hoping to finalize a new bout today.”

Gore detailed his injury right here.

Aside from his extremely impressive wrestling credentials, Nickal has established himself as a fighter to watch after running through two opponents on Dana White’s Contender Series in the first round back in 2022. He earned another first-round submission win for his official UFC debut in March 2023, defeating Jamie Pickett (watch highlights) — although that win wasn’t without controversy.

Gore came into UFC via The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 29, where he made it to the finals only to be derailed by a knee injury. Since then he’s gone 1-2 in UFC.

This is the second fight to drop out of UFC 290 in the past couple of days. Late last week, No. 14-ranked Welterweight prospect, Jack Della Maddalena, had his opportunity to take on No. 8-seeded Sean Brady snatched away after Brady withdrew because of a bad staph infection.

He’ll now fight UFC newcomer, Josiah Harrell. Nickal, meanwhile, will now tangle with another Octagon debutant, Val Woodburn, who will enter the cage this weekend as the biggest underdog in UFC history at +1200.

Bet the house?

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 290 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+/ABC at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 290: “Volkanovski vs. Rodriguez” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.