TLDR
- Yoel Romero weighed 212 pounds for his 205-pound championship match against Bo Nickal at RAF 5
- Bo Nickal withdrew from the card after Romero’s seven-pound weight miss, calling it disrespectful
- Romero was stripped of his interim title while Nickal was crowned undisputed light heavyweight champion
- This is the second time the Nickal-Romero matchup has been scheduled and cancelled
- Nickal says he has no interest in rebooking Romero and wants to face ‘fake wrestlers’ like Colby Covington or Luke Rockhold
Sources: MMA Fighting | MMA Fighting | MMA Mania
The highly anticipated wrestling match between Bo Nickal and Yoel Romero was cancelled Saturday morning after Romero missed weight by seven pounds. The bout was scheduled as the co-main event for Real American Freestyle 5 in Sunrise, Florida.
Romero weighed in at 212 pounds for the light heavyweight championship match, which had a 205-pound limit. Nickal refused to proceed with the contest under modified terms and was removed from the card entirely.
Real American Freestyle officials stripped Romero of his interim light heavyweight title and awarded Nickal the undisputed championship. Romero will still compete at the event but against a different opponent, Stephen Buchanan.
Check out this story from MMA Junkie: Nickal vs. Romero canceled from RAF 5
Arguably the most anticipated matchup on RAF 5 was removed hours prior to the event.https://t.co/mr6OYBJtfd
— JCN (@CharlieMMAFAN) January 11, 2026
Second Attempt Falls Through
This marks the second time the matchup between Nickal and Romero has been scheduled and cancelled. Nickal withdrew from their original booking at RAF 4, which would have been Romero’s return to freestyle wrestling.
Romero competed anyway at that event and defeated Pat Downey with a dominant 12-0 technical fall victory. It was his first freestyle wrestling match in over 20 years after a decorated career that included Olympic silver.
After Saturday’s weight miss, Nickal addressed the situation and criticized Romero’s professionalism. “For me, wrestling is about competing but part of that’s making weight and when you show up seven pounds over, that’s disrespectful to the sport,” Nickal said.
Nickal, who currently competes at 185 pounds in the UFC, said he weighs 205 pounds naturally. He suggested Romero is more suited for heavyweight competition.
“To be honest, I think he’s a heavyweight,” Nickal said. “He’s coming down from 230-plus pounds. He obviously couldn’t make 205.”
Nickal Targets New Opponents
When asked about rebooking the match, Nickal expressed little interest in facing Romero again. “Unless he can get down to the weight, I don’t really care,” he said. “But I definitely have a lot of other guys that I have my eye on.”
Nickal turned his attention to the RAF 5 main event participants, Colby Covington and Luke Rockhold. He called them “fake wrestlers” and criticized their placement in the headlining spot over Olympic medalists Kyle Dake and Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov.
“I mean there’s a couple fake wrestlers in the main event,” Nickal said. “Either one of those guys. I think they’re disrespectful to the sport.”
Covington is a former All-American wrestler from Oregon State, while Rockhold is primarily known for his MMA career. Rockhold held titles in both the UFC and Strikeforce but has limited pure wrestling credentials.
Nickal said he would welcome a match with either man. “Either one of those dudes, I’d love to tear them limb from limb and send them packing,” he stated.
The card reshuffling also affected other fights on the RAF 5 lineup. Pat Downey, who was originally scheduled to face Buchanan, was removed from the card after Buchanan was moved to face Romero.
RAF featherweight champion Jordan Oliver also missed weight for his title defense against Real Woods. Oliver was stripped of his championship, but the match will proceed with Woods eligible to win the title.
RAF 5 streams exclusively on FOX Nation and features Covington versus Rockhold in the main event. The card begins at 8 p.m. ET from Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
