The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) has moved to withhold the fight purse of now-former UFC featherweight Isaac Dulgarian following a suspicious result this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 110, sources confirmed to Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani on Monday.
Dulgarian was cut from the UFC on Sunday night, sources told Uncrowned, following a first-round submission loss to Yadier del Valle that immediately came under fire for irregular pre-fight betting patterns that preceded a bizarre performance from the Kansas City prospect.
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A timeline for the NAC to potentially release Dulgarian’s fight purse is unclear at the time of this writing.
Dulgarian (7-2) entered this past weekend as the heavy betting favorite but dropped sharply to just -154 odds prior to fight time. Excessive action also poured in on the prop bet for del Valle to win via first-round finish. Dulgarian had won two of his three UFC bouts prior to UFC Vegas 110, yet mounted little resistance against del Valle, prompting UFC commentator and veteran fighter Michael Chiesa to call out the bizarre “F- performance” as “absolute trash” on the ESPN+ post-fight show.
The suspicious happenings caused multiple online sportsbooks, including Caesars Sportsbook, to announce Saturday night their intention to refund bets users placed on Dulgarian to win.
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UFC issued an official response Monday stating that it takes “these allegations very seriously” and its betting integrity partner, IC360, “is conducting a thorough review of the facts surrounding the Dulgarian vs. del Valle bout.”
This latest gambling controversy is not the first to hit UFC. Featherweight Darrick Minner was cut by the promotion in 2022 following a similarly suspicious first-round loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke that resulted in NAC suspensions for both Minner and his coach James Krause. Prior to that, South Korean lightweight Tae Hyun Bang was sentenced to 10 months in prison alongside three others involved in a scheme to throw a 2015 fight against Leo Kuntz on a UFC event held in South Korea.
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Uncrowned’s Helwani reported Monday that Dulgarian’s situation is “not an isolated incident” and that multiple UFC fighters have “experienced situations where they have been approached about their willingness” to throw a fight for money.
