The Nissan Path

I have a 2008 Pathfinder and Im trying to remove the front driver side catalytic converter. I already went and removed the nuts.

The issue Im having is with the studs/bolts that remain. The catalytic converter has these long 2" studs on it, that connect to the midpipe with a nut. I tried pulling the midpipe back, but it doesnt seem to want to move far enough back to let the cat free.

Any idea on how to get the cat out? Do I need to remove the midpipe/muffler? Or is there same way to remove these studs?

The "midpipe/muffler" is actually the downstream catalytic converter and it needs to be removed in order to get the primary converter out.