UFC Sao Paulo main card fight gets canceled last minute due to mystery illness; fighter's management releases statement 

UFC Sao Paulo, currently underway at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has lost a crucial bout in the main card.

It was reported during the event's broadcast that the fight between middleweight contenders Rodolfo Vieira and Armen Petrosyan has been canceled. Moments before the main card was set to kick off, an unfortunate revelation came to light that Petrosyan was forced to withdraw from his highly anticipated middleweight clash with Vieira due to an illness.

As per a statement from Petrosyan's management, the fighter appears to have fallen victim to an unfortunate backstage illness, which stopped him from fighting on the UFC Sao Paulo card. In a message posted on social media, manager Brian Butler-Au conveyed:

"Unfortunately our client Armen Petrosyan caught a virus or something back stage and has to pull out of his fight tonight in UFC Sao Paulo. UFC said they will look to get him back in right away as soon as he is cleared."

Check out the statement below:

In light of this development, the UFC decided to elevate the 165-pound catchweight bout between Elves Brener and Kaynan Kruschewsky, originally slated to conclude the preliminary fights, to the main card opener.

Armen Petrosyan boasts a professional record of 9 wins and 2 losses, recording six of his wins via KO/TKO. In his last outing, Petrosyan earned a unanimous decision victory over Christian Leroy Duncan, adding another solid win to his record. He also triumphed over A.J. Dobson at UFC 280 in October 2022 following a unanimous decision loss to Caio Borralho.

Meanwhile, Rodolfo Vieira's UFC track record includes a recent victory over Cody Brundage on April 29, 2023, securing a submission win via arm-triangle choke and earning the coveted 'Performance of the Night' award. The submission specialist has a UFC record of four wins and two losses, with all his victories achieved through submissions.