Rodolfo Bellato and Paul Craig were set to square off in a light heavyweight showdown at UFC Vegas 106, scheduled to serve as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 106.
Craig entered the bout on a three-fight losing streak. Bellato, on the other hand, was undefeated in his last five fights before his clash against “Bearjew.” However, the fight fell off.
UFC Vegas 106 Co-Main Event Rodolfo Bellato vs. Paul Craig Canceled
Halfway through the main card of the Fight Night, play-by-play commentator for the evening, John Gooden, informed the fans on the broadcast that the fight had been canceled due to medical reasons.
Bellato took to social media a day after the event and revealed that he was forced out of the event due to herpes.
🚨| Rodolfo Bellato has revealed he was forced out of his #UFCVegas106 co-main event due to catching herpes. 😳🦠
“I never thought that herpes would take me out of a fight!” pic.twitter.com/rxSudaLOH0
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit)
The initial update came right before the mid-card fight between Sodiq Yusuff and Mairon Santos went down, which has now been promoted to the co-main event.
The Bellato vs. Craig fight will be rescheduled, as per the announcement.
“Breaking news! Our co-main event has now been canceled due to a medical issue on the side of Rodolfo Bellato,” Gooden said. “This will be rescheduled as soon as we possibly can—May 31 or June 7… So we’re going to wait for that one.”
Paul Felder chimed in that he was heartbroken over the update.
“As soon as I heard the news, I was just devastated for Paul Craig and Bellator,” Felder said. “I was really looking forward to that one. I would’ve been a nice contrast of styles. But I am happy to hear they’re trying to reschedule it and moving forward, because that’s a fight I want to see!”
“That’s really shocking,” Michael Bisping joined the conversation. “It just is. I feel for both men, as you said. You put all this time and effort. You go through a full training camp… there’s a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice. There’s a lot of emotion that goes into this. Of course, nobody wants to pull out.”
Bisping confirmed with Gooden the reason behind the cancellation and lamented that it was out of anybody’s control: “It just sucks.”
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨
Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato is off and will be rescheduled.#UFCVegas106 | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/WILWk961px
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt)
Bellato seemingly was physically capable of competing even a few hours before the beginning of the event, given that he posted this in Portuguese on his Instagram Story: “I’ll be going to the arena soon! May God bless another day of work. Thank you, Lord.”
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time a fight got canceled at the last minute due to one of the competitors’ health issues.
Craig has not won a fight since Nov. 2023. In his last three outings, he was finished by Brendan Allen and Caio Borralho and lost a decision to Bo Nickal. Meanwhile, Bellato won his UFC debut against Ihor Potieria in Dec. 2023 and drew the next fight against Jimmy Crute.