Rodolfo Bellato and Paul Craig were minutes away from fighting each other at UFC Vegas 106 this past May when the broadcast announced the light heavyweight bout was called off due to a medical issue.
As it turns out, Bellato had herpes, so the Nevada Athletic Commission decided to pull the plug on the match. The UFC opted to re-book Craig and Bellato for June 14 in Atlanta, and the Brazilian fighter admits he was heartbroken to see a fight cancelled at the eleventh hour.
“We never expect that something like this would happen to us so it was something that surprised me a lot,” Bellato told MMA Fighting. “I had the gloves on, already warmed up. There was one fight left before ours, and then the commission doctor saw my lips—and it was something that showed up on the day of the fight. On the faceoffs, the weigh-ins, there was nothing.”
Bellato said he woke up Saturday morning and felt his lips were a bit “itchy”, but nothing out of the ordinary. It got worse after a morning workout, though, and then the herpes revealed itself.
‘I cried a lot’: Rodolfo Bellato on herpes diagnosis that led to last-minute Paul Craig fight postponement
Rodolfo Bellato and Paul Craig were minutes away from fighting at UFC Vegas 106 before a herpes diagnosis caused their fight to be moved to UFC Atlanta this Saturday.
