UFC 313 has taken a major hit just hours before the beginning of the event.
On Saturday evening, the biggest UFC event of the year thus far takes place as UFC 313 touches down at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.
In the main event, light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira looks to successfully defend his title for a fourth time when he takes on Magomed Ankalaev, looking to break a record set by Jon Jones.
Ahead of their highly anticipated main event, their rivalry has heated up during fight week with both Pereira and Ankalaev having sent each other warnings.
READ MORE: Alex Pereira vs Magomed Ankalaev Bloody Elbow staff predictions highlight clear UFC 313 favorite
UFC 313 loses 2 fights just hours before the start of the event
Not only is the main event a blockbuster matchup, but there are also some tantalising fights scattered throughout what was a 12-fight card.
The co-main event sees an incredible rematch between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev after their first meeting in 2023 provided fireworks when Gaethje picked up the majority decision in their Fight of the Year contender.
The prelims also include a history-making fight between Joshua Van and Rei Tsuruya in the flyweight division, with the Japanese fighter looking to preserve his undefeated record.
However, before that was a scheduled featherweight fight between Chris Gutierrez and John Castaneda, but the promotion announced just hours before the beginning of the event that an illness on the side of Castaneda has resulted in that bout being canceled.
That, though, isn’t the only hit the UFC 313 card has taken. Former UFC interim heavyweight title contender, Curtis Blaydes was scheduled to take on promotional newcomer Rizvan Kuniev.
‘Razor’ Blaydes was looking to bounce back from his loss to Tom Aspinall last July but unfortunately, the 34-year-old fell ill hours before the beginning of the event, resulting in a cancelation of the heavyweight fight.
The new UFC 313 bout order following 2 fight cancellations
And with that, there is a new bout order for the upcoming fights.
Opening up the night is a middleweight bout between Djorden Santos and Ozzy Diaz, which is then followed by a featherweight bout between TUF winner, Mairon Santos and Francis Marshall.
Carlos Leal then takes on Alex Morono at 170lbs, before Brunno Ferreira looks to return to the win column when he takes on Armen Petrosyan at 185lbs.
Now heading the prelim portion of the event is the aforementioned history-making fight between flyweights, Van and Tsuruya.