Copyright GIVEMESPORT
Dana White has broken his silence regarding one of the biggest crises to hit the UFC in recent years. It all started last week, on the 1st of November, ahead of fighter Isaac Dulgarian's bout against Yadier Del Valle. As GIVE ME SPORT reported earlier this week, Dulgarian, a middling prospect, started as a 2/5 favorite to win the fight, but odds waned to 5/6 as he entered the Octagon. Though this can happen organically, the swing in odds was seemingly due to a surge of prop bets picking Del Valle to win in the very first round. Though this was flagged to the UFC ahead of the bout, and despite a call from the promotion to Dulgarian — and his lawyer — the fight proceeded as normal. Del Valle won in the first round after questionable defense from Dulgarian, who has since been released from the UFC. FBI Agents Met With UFC in Las Vegas Ariel Helwani's platform Uncrowned at Yahoo Sports reported Sunday that sources of theirs said UFC released Dulgarian from its roster and their contract. The Nevada State Athletic Commission also withheld the fighter's entire purse/salary, per Helwani. The UFC then issued an official statement regarding the betting patterns that preceded Dulgarian's eventual first-round submission loss to Del Valle. "Like many professional sports organizations, UFC works with an independent betting integrity service to monitor wagering activity on our events," it said, according to Aaron Bronsteter. "Our betting integrity partner, IC360, monitors wagering on every UFC event and is conducting a thorough review of the facts surrounding the Dulgarian vs. del Valle bout on Saturday, November 1." "We take these allegations very seriously, and along with the health and safety of our fighters, nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport." Now, Dana White had his say, when speaking to TMZ Sports on Tuesday. Per White, the UFC was alerted to suspicious bets prior to the fight, and so they called Dulgarian and his lawyer but proceeded with the fight anyway. When Dulgarian lost, in the same manner in which the suspicious prop bets had officials on high-alert, White said called the FBI himself. He said the company IC360, whom they work with as a bet-monitoring company, reached out to UFC to alert them of "unusual action." They asked if the UFC knew anything, and White said they did not. "So, what we did was, we called the fighter and his lawyer, and said, 'What's going on? 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.' We said, 'Okay'." "The fight plays out — first-round finish, by rear-naked choke. Literally, the first thing we did was call the FBI." White said not only did they call "the FBI," but they actually met with investigators "twice today" and even "had an office-full of FBI agents" at UFC HQ in Las Vegas. "If you try to do this, I've been very vocal and open about this, we will be your worst enemy." "We will immediately go after [you], all guns blazing with the FBI and whoever else we need to get, and we will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison." White continued: "I hate to see anybody in our sport do anything illegal. Fight fixing is absolutely insane to get to this level. I'm not saying this kid is guilty, there's no proof that he's done this yet, but it doesn't look good." The case continues.
