Rodolfo Vieira just registered a huge first-round submission win over Armen Petrosyan at UFC Vegas 86 on February 10th, 2024. It was an important win for Vieira’s young MMA career as he is looking to climb his way up the UFC middleweight division by putting together a win-streak over his next few fights. He started out his career with a perfect 7-0 professional record where he finished every single opponent, including in his first two UFC fights. That’s when he hit a bit of a rocky patch though, as he was shockingly submitted by Anthony Hernandez back at UFC 258 at the beginning of 2021.
He went 1-1 over his next two fights after that and although he was still clearly an incredible grappler, it appeared as though he might not make it the highest level of the MMA world. Then he put in another vintage performance against Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC Vegas 72 to get back in the win-column once again. With a 9-2 professional record and alternating wins and losses in his last 4 fights, it was very much a turning point in Vieira’s career. Things could have continued to go downhill or he could right the ship and get back on his rise to the top, and he was given the ideal opponent in Armen Petrosyan at UFC on ESPN+ 88.
In a bizarre turn of events, Petrosyan actually withdrew from the fight while the event was ongoing and fans didn’t get to see Vieira compete at all as it was far too late for a replacement to be found. Matchmakers at the UFC did a great job in rebooking the Rodolfo Vieira v Armen Petrosyan fight for UFC Vegas 86 though and although there was no trouble on the night, there was still some difficulty for Vieira during the build-up. Vieira had started to work with Diego Braga to prepare for the fight, but his coach was sadly killed in January of this year.
It was obviously going to be a devastating blow to lose someone so close, but Rodolfo Vieira still showed up to UFC Vegas 86 to put on a show. That’s exactly what he did too, as he displayed some fantastic takedowns and the phenomenal skill that he’s always been known for on the ground. After just a little over 4 minutes Vieira was able to lock up the arm-triangle choke and finish the fight, marking the fifth time in his MMA career that he’d been able to submit an opponent with that submission.
UFC Vegas 86 Full Results
Jack Hermansson defeats Joe Pyfer via Decision – Unanimous (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Dan Ige defeats Andre Fili via KO – Punches (Round 1, 2:43)
Ihor Potieria defeats Robert Bryczek via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Gregory Rodrigues defeats Brad Tavares via TKO – Punches (Round 3, 0:55)
Michael Johnson defeats Darrius Flowers via Decision – Unanimous (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Rodolfo Vieira defeats Armen Petrosyan via Submission – Arm-triangle Choke (Round 1, 4:48)
Preliminary Card
Carlos Prates defeats Trevin Giles via KO – Punch (Round 2, 4:03)
Bolaji Oki defeats Timothy Cuamba via Decision – Split (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Loma Lookboonmee defeats Bruna Brasil via Decision – Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marcin Prachnio defeats Devin Clark via Decision – Unanimous (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Max Griffin defeats Jeremiah Wells via Decision – Split (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bogdan Guskov defeats Zac Pauga via KO – Punches (Round 1, 3:38)
Hyder Amil defetas Fernie Garcia via TKO – Punches (Round 2, 2:12)
Daniel Marcos vs Aori Qileng ends in a No Contest – Accidental Groin Kick (Round 2, 3:28)
The full UFC Vegas 86 event replay, including Rodolfo Vieira submitting Armen Petrosyan, is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.
