Bo Nickal to make his debut at UFC 285

Bo Nickal, a middleweight prospect for the UFC, will make his much anticipated debut at UFC 285 on March 4 in Las Vegas.

Nickal will take on Jamie Pickett on the first of two pay-per-view events in March, the UFC revealed in a press release on Wednesday. Aaron Bronsteter of TSN re-shared the press release's specifics.

At UFC 282 last month, Nickal was scheduled to take on Pickett but withdrew due to an unspecified ailment. The contest has been rescheduled and Pickett has been completely removed from the card.

Nickal is widely regarded as one of the best MMA prospects in recent memory. He is unblemished in his MMA career after a strong run in NCAA wrestling at Penn State.

On Dana White's Contender Series, Nickal competed twice and won both matches by first-round finishes. In September, he defeated Donovan Beard in 52 seconds.

Pickett, who has seven times as much MMA experience as Nickal, will present a difficult test for him. Even though Pickett has suffered back-to-back defeats, he has also defeated Joseph Holmes and Laureano Staropoli.

Huge expectations are placed on Nickal before his UFC debut. He's already targeted some of the top middleweights, such as Israel Adesanya and Khamzat Chimaev.

Nickal might be on the fast track to a ranking if he defeated Pickett in another spectacular victory at UFC 285. For Pickett, defeating Nickal would significantly raise his profile.