UFC CEO Dana White says the promotion is currently in communication with the FBI following a fight result last weekend that many believe could’ve been part of a significant gambling scheme.
Undefeated prospect Yadier del Valle pulled off an upset win over Isaac Dulgarian last Saturday in Las Vegas, submitting the American featherweight in just under four minutes via rear naked choke.
Dulgarian was originally listed as a roughly -250 favorite for the fight. However, in the hours and minutes leading up to the bout, bets placed on the matchup caused his odds to make a significant jump, tightening up to just -150.
The result of the fight, matched with the way the line movement acted, caused many to immediately assume that something fishy had occurred. Some have even gone as far as to argue that the fight could’ve been “fixed.” The suspicions alerted Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360), a company which provides “integrity and regulatory technology solutions” for the UFC.
As White explained in a recent TMZ interview, IC360 noticed unusual movement in the bets and kicked off an investigation prior to the bout even taking place. After the fight wrapped up, the FBI was brought into the fold as well.
“Probably about 1:00 that day, we’re with a company called IC360, and they’re the best bet monitoring company in the business. They reached out to us and they told us that there was some unusual action going on with that fight, did we know anything? We didn’t. So, what we did was, we called the fighter and his lawyer, and said ‘What’s going on? There’s some weird action going on, are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you?’ And the kid said ‘No, absolutely not. I’m gonna kill this guy.’ So we said, ‘Okay.’ The fight plays out, and first round finish by rear naked choke. Literally, the first thing we did was call the FBI. So we called the FBI. I’ve met with the FBI twice today.”
Dulgarian was cut from the UFC roster shortly following his loss on Saturday night. Due to the suspicious nature of the result, the online Caesars sportsbook voided all bets on the bout afterward.
White emphasized that there is “no proof” yet that Dulgarian was involved in intentional fight fixing. However, he admitted that “it doesn’t look good.”
A similar incident occurred back in 2022, when unusual betting activity came in prior to a UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. In this instance, many believe that word got out regarding an injury to Minner which was going to cause him to lose. The Nevada State Athletic Commission later suspended Minner and coach James Krause indefinitely for not properly disclosing an injury before the fight.
The controversy briefly caused the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to stop sportsbooks from providing bets on UFC events. It also made UFC introduce a new policy which strictly prohibits fighters, coaches, and other personnel from betting on fights hosted by the promotion.
Later in the interview, White sent out a warning shot to anyone else who plans on getting involved in a fixed bout:
“If you try to do this, I will be very vocal and very open about this: We will be your worst enemy,” White said. “We will immediately go after you, guns ablazing, with the FBI and whoever else we need to get, and we will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison.”
