With the UFC potentially facing its second betting scandal in the past three years, CEO Dana White told TMZ on Tuesday that the promotion is in close contact with the FBI after heavily favored featherweight Isaac Dulgarian lost on Saturday at UFC Vegas 110.
Confirming reports from Uncrowned and Yahoo Sports, White said IC360, UFC’s betting integrity partner, alerted the UFC hours before Dulgarian’s featherweight fight against Yadier del Valle that the underdog was drawing plenty of betting action to win along with first-round prop bets.
“We called the fighter and his lawyer and said, ‘What’s going on? There’s some weird betting action going on in your fight. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you?'” White said. “And the kid said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m going to kill this guy.’ So we said OK. The fight plays out — and first-round finish by rear-naked choke. Literally, the first thing we did was call the FBI.”
Dulgarian, who was dismissed from the promotion on Sunday night, was heavily favored but appeared indifferent during the match before losing by submission. Caesars Sportsbook was among several online sportsbooks to announce Saturday night that it would refund the bets placed on Dulgarian to win.
As of yet, there is no proof that Dulgarian threw the match, but White — who met twice with the FBI on Tuesday — said, “It doesn’t look good, it definitely doesn’t look good.”
In an official response on Monday, the UFC said IC360 “is conducting a thorough review of the facts surrounding the Dulgarian vs. del Valle bout” and is taking the allegations seriously. Per Uncrowned, the Nevada Athletic Commission is planning to withhold Dulgarian’s purse for the fight in the wake of the alleged incident.
In 2022, a controversial first-round loss by featherweight Darrick Minner to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke led to Minner’s dismissal and suspensions for Minner and his coach James Krause. Seven years before that incident, Tae Hyun Bang, a South Korean lightweight, received a 10-month prison sentence for his roles in a plan to throw a fight vs. Leo Kuntz in a UFC card in South Korea.
–Field Level Media
