Alleged fight fixing may have the UFC completely compromised.
UFC President Dana White told all about what happened during this past weekend’s purported fight fixing scandal involving prelim card fighters Isaac Dulgarian and Yadier Del Valle.
Dulgarian lost by first-round submission in one of the sketchiest-looking fights you’ll ever see, with betting integrity firm IC360 contacting the UFC before the fight happened and stating there had been some questionable betting behavior on the bout.
The promotion immediately released Dulgarian.
“[IC360] reached out to us and told us that there was some unusual action going on with that fight,” White told TMZ. “‘Do we know anything?’ We didn’t. So what we did was call the fighter and his lawyer and said, ‘What’s going on? There is some weird action going on with your [fight] — weird betting action going on with your fight. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you to, you know…’ And the kid said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m gonna kill this guy.’ So we said, ‘OK’”
Despite the UFC questioning him, the promotion allowed the fight to proceed based on his answers but the result was certainly fishy.
Dulgarian lost by first-round submission, after which the commentary team of Michael Chiesa and Daniel Cormier called his performance “white belt stuff” for his beginner-level mistakes.
White said the promotion acted promptly.
“Literally the first thing we did was call the FBI,” White said about the moments after the fight. “So we called the FBI. I’ve met with the FBI twice today.”
Multiple fighters have since come forward on social media saying they were previously approached by unnamed people who asked them to throw fights.
Vince Morales said he was offered “pennies, considering how big a deal it is. Seventh thousand,” to throw a fight previously.
Prelim fighter Vanessa Demopoulos said she was offered money to fix a fight, but “her integrity could never.”
David Onama, who fought this past weekend, previously shouted out “Skinny Bets,” a social media personality who touts betting advice, after a fight in 2022.
At the center of this scandal is a former coach, James Krause, who is under FBI Investigation for his role in a previously fixed fight involving former mid-tier combatant Darrick Minner.
White offered a stern warning to his roster.
“You know, seeing things out on the internet where fighters are coming out going, ‘Oh, I was approached.’ Really? Why didn’t you tell us that, or more importantly, tell law enforcement that you were approached?” White said to TMZ. “They’re gonna be approached now by the FBI.”
Fixing sporting events can carry a sentence in federal prison for bribery and fraud, among other law infractions, and NBA star Terry Rozier was recently arrested by the FBI for allegedly fixing his props for betting purposes.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
