Photo of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at T-Mobile Arena, Vegas. Photo courtesy of Alonso Reyes via Unsplash.
–
By Juan Davalos
TAMPA, Fla. — Before UFC Fight Night 110 on Nov. 1, 2025, the promotion’s long-term wagering integrity partner Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360) flagged abnormal wagering activity on the featherweight bout between Isaac Dulgarian and Yadier del Valle.
According to Reuters, hours before the bout between Dulgarian and del Valle, there was heavy late betting on the underdog and a surge in first-round finish proposition bets.
That same night, Dulgarian, who, according to Sherdog, was the favorite listed around minus-260 odds, was submitted via rear-naked choke in the first round in a performance that raised serious integrity concerns.
Observers described Dulgarian’s performance as listless and uncharacteristic for someone entering as such a heavy favorite. The UFC has since notified the FBI released the fighter from his contract and begun an internal investigation.
UFC President Dana White was blunt about the optics in a recent press conference.
“I’m not saying this kid’s guilty … But I can tell you this: It doesn’t look good,” said White. “We called the fighter and his lawyer … ‘Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you?’ … The kid said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m going to kill this guy.’”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission reportedly is considering withholding the fighter’s purse pending inquiry, while Caesars and other sportsbooks issued refunds for certain wagers on the fight.
White said agents visited UFC headquarters, and he had direct conversations with FBI Director Kash Patel. While White stressed that no formal wrongdoing has been proven, he made his stance clear:
“If you try to do this … we will be your worst enemy … we will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison,” said White.
This isn’t the first time the UFC has wrestled with betting-related controversy. In 2022, the organization was embroiled in a fight-fixing scandal involving fighter Darrick Minner and his coach, James Krause, after first-round bets surged before a bout, raising red flags.
Krause, who publicly ran a betting-advice group called The 1% Club, was believed to know about his fighters’ pre-existing injury and used or mishandled that information to influence betting odds.
Although not criminally charged yet, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Minner for 29 months and coach Jeff Molina for 36 months. At the same time, Krause was removed and banned indefinitely from coaching duties, and fighters affiliated with him were barred from competing until further notice.
However, Dulgarian’s coach, Marc Montoya, of Factory X, strongly denied any involvement on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“We have nothing to do with any of the allegations … I would never, for any amount of money, sell my integrity or my word,” said Montoya.
In a public statement, the UFC reiterated its commitment to integrity. “Like many professional sports organizations, UFC works with an independent betting integrity service to monitor wagering activity on our events,” a spokesperson told ESPN. “We take these allegations very seriously … nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport.”
The mixed martial arts organization’s scandal is the latest in a recent trend of gambling controversies in U.S. sports in 2025, which includes giants like the NBA and MLB. Several athletes, including Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested and charged; some were even linked to organized crime families that ran illegal sports and poker betting operations.
Many, like ESPN correspondent David Purdum, believe the issue stems from the expansion of legal sports betting across the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. It struck down the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), effectively legalizing what is mostly unregulated sports betting across the country.
Since the controversy, at the collegiate level, the NCAA and other organizations are advocating for stricter regulations and a ban on certain types of bets, like college proposition bets, to protect student-athletes.