Bo Nickal vs. Yoel Romero Rebooked for RAF 16 on December 19

Real American Freestyle is taking a third run at Bo Nickal vs. Yoel Romero.

RAF announced Tuesday that the two decorated wrestlers are booked for RAF 16 on Saturday, December 19, in Long Island, New York. The promotion says the event will stream on Fox Nation. MMA Junkie reported that Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale will host the card.

The matchup is a catchweight crossover wrestling match, not an MMA bout. RAF's announcement did not give a numerical weight limit or attach championship stakes to it.

Two bookings have already fallen apart

Nickal and Romero were first matched for RAF 4 in December 2025. Nickal withdrew for reasons that were not disclosed. RAF tried again the following month, but Romero missed weight before RAF 5 and the match was pulled.

That history makes the latest announcement more than a routine addition to the calendar. The attraction is obvious, but so is the reason to wait until both men are on the mat before treating it as settled.

Nickal, 30, built his name as a three-time NCAA Division I champion at Penn State before moving into MMA. He is now a ranked UFC middleweight and has continued wrestling between UFC appearances. His RAF record stands at 2-1, with his latest match ending in an 11-8 win over 2008 Olympic champion Shirvani Muradov in September.

Romero, 49, won an Olympic silver medal in freestyle wrestling for Cuba in 2000 before becoming a long-time UFC middleweight contender. He has moved between MMA, bare-knuckle boxing and wrestling in recent years. His last RAF appearance ended in a technical-fall loss to Stephen Buchanan.

The age gap does not erase the wrestling question

A 19-year age difference gives Nickal the clearer physical timeline. He is the active UFC contender, while Romero last competed in MMA in 2024. Wrestling credentials are the reason the booking still works. Nickal brings elite American collegiate experience and current competitive form. Romero brings decades of international freestyle experience and the kind of explosiveness that made him dangerous well into his forties.

The catchweight label may also give RAF more room than it had in January, when Romero's missed weight killed the second booking. The promotion has not announced the exact limit, so there is no basis yet to say that the old issue has been solved.

RAF has not announced the rest of the RAF 16 lineup. For now, Nickal vs. Romero is the match carrying the December 19 date.