Kyle Daukaus will get the opportunity to play spoiler against Bo Nickal at UFC’s upcoming White House card this June, but even he doesn’t believe he deserved the high-profile matchup.
While UFC’s Freedom Fights 250 event has received considerable backlash once the official lineup was announced one of the biggest gripes was Nickal’s matchup with Daukaus. Fight fans knew UFC was probably going to stuff Nickal on the card at all costs — which makes sense from a marketing standpoint — but few expected the middleweight prospect to be pitted up against Daukaus.
Daukaus, who has captured two-straight quick finishes since returning to UFC in 2025, is a fine fighter, but not a name that many casual fight fans are familiar with. That’s why it was a surprise to see the promotion book Nickal against Daukaus. Matchmakers certainly had to mix things up since early rumors suggested UFC’s White House card could have up to six title fights, but maybe they dropped the ball just a little bit.
“It’s a business aspect. If they put seven or eight title fights on the card, then for the next year, that’s going to hold up all these divisions and all these other numbered events,” Daukaus recently told MMA Junkie. “The numbered events won’t have title fights to be had and they won’t have good co-main events or main events and whatnot.”
Daukaus understands the backlash that the promotion has received for his booking against Nickal and isn’t shying away from it. In fact, the 33-year-old middleweight believes his White House bid was “undeserved” and that he expected more superstars to be featured on the card.
“I didn’t think I was going to be a guy to be picked, especially when there was going to be seven or eight fights,” explained Daukaus. “I figured they were going to have the who’s who on there… I’m not saying that like I deserve to be on here. I don’t believe I do, just based off of the caliber of fighters that are on the card.”
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