On the heels of the NBA federal indictments alleging rigged sports betting, a fight-fixing allegation has been levied against a bout that took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas last weekend.
Suspicions surrounding irregular wagers placed on the UFC Vegas 110 main card featherweight fight between Yadier del Valle and Isaac Dulgarian arose early on the day of the event. After the match's outcome, UFC CEO Dana White called the FBI.
"Probably about 1 o'clock that day, we're with a company called IC 360, and they are 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, White explained to TMZ Sports.
"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 in your bet, some weird betting action going on with your fight. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you?' And the kid said, 'No, absolutely not. I'm going to kill this guy.' So we said, Okay," continued White.
"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, so that's the whole thing."
With any betting scandal in professional sports, people began to question the legitimacy of other fight outcomes and in a wider sense questioned the organization and the sport as a whole. White considers it an isolated incident and assured any doubters that wagers are closely monitored to endure integrity.
"Now you see people out there talking, 'Oh, hundreds of fights under investigation.' It's total bullsh*t. Usual, clickbait bullsh*t," White said. "IC 360, our company, they monitor all of the betting. Like I said, they are the best in the business. There aren't hundreds of fights being investigated. All clickbait BS."
"This company, IC 360, which is the best bet-monitoring company in the business, we've been with them for years. We get a report after every single fight that we do," White continued. "We've been with these guys for years. We take this very serious, and we're watching every single fight that happens in the UFC, from the first prelim to the main event."
Fight-fixing may leave a stain on a sport, but it ruins athletes' careers, taints legacies, and could lead to prison time. White strongly warned any fighter who may consider it.
"If you try to do this, I've been 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. We will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison."
The fighter in question, Isaac Dulgarian, was released from his UFC contract, and his team, Factory X, has cut ties over the allegations. The FBI has launched an investigation but Dulgarian hasn't been found guilty of fight-fixing, or any other crime. The investigation will determine whether he'll face charges.
"I'm not saying this kid is guilty," said the UFC CEO. "There is no proof that he's done this yet, but I can tell you this: it doesn't look good. It definitely doesn't look good."
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