UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that he has spoken to the FBI following a suspicious MMA fight involving sports betting from last Saturday.
Key Takeaways
- Isaac Dulgarian is accused of throwing a fight against Yadier del Valle.
- White said while there is no proof yet, “it doesn’t look good".
- The UFC CEO defended the integrity of his company and warned fighters about throwing bouts.
White said in a Tuesday interview with TMZ that he was alerted about unusual betting activity by integrity monitoring service IC360 before the fight between featherweight fighter and betting favorite Isaac Dulgarian and Yadier del Valle.
“(IC360) reached out and told us there was some unusual action going on with that fight and did we know anything,” White said. “We didn't. 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?' The kid said, 'Absolutely not. I'm going to kill this guy.’
“The fight plays out, first-round finish. Literally, the first thing we did was call the FBI.”
Dana White is breaking his silence after suspicious betting activity was observed before Isaac Dulgarian, a heavy favorite, lost on Saturday.
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) November 4, 2025
The @UFC honcho walks us through everything that's gone down, from being alerted to potential irregularities before the event to meeting… pic.twitter.com/cVrp99W82Z
White said he spoke directly with FBI director Kash Patel, and an “office full” of FBI agents visited UFC headquarters in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Suspicious ending
Dulgarian was around a -250 favorite heading into last Saturday’s event. Around 3 p.m. ET, one-sided money reportedly began pouring in on del Valle, lowering Dulgarian’s odds to as low as -130 before the fight. First-round finish bets were also getting placed at a high rate, and some sportsbooks took the fight off the board.
Caesars Sportsbook and William Hill refunded losing bettors after Dulgarian lost 3:41 into the bout when del Valle put him in a rear-naked chokehold. White said that as soon as the fight ended, he walked to a back room and called the FBI. Dulgarian was also quickly released by the UFC.
“Fight fixing is absolutely insane,” White said. “I’m not saying this kid’s guilty. There’s 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.”
Adding to the investigation
The UFC’s latest incident comes on the heels of an NBA scandal involving players manipulating performance and sharing information with bettors, but this is not the first issue the UFC has had in terms of irregular betting.
A former UFC fighter and coach, James Krause, was suspended after a 2023 bout involving one of his fighters, Darrick Minner, was flagged for suspicious betting. Minner was found to have had a pre-existing injury after he lost in the first round.
White said that the ongoing investigation is now part of the FBI’s probe into the Dulgarian fight, and he warned other fighters what will happen if they are involved in fight-fixing.
“We will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison,” White said.
Defending the brand
The UFC CEO also defended his company’s integrity, saying that reports of hundreds of fights being suspicious were “clickbait B.S.,” and that IC360 delivers a report after every bout.
“We take this very serious,” White said. “We’re watching every fight that happens in the UFC, from the first prelim to the main event.
“(IC360) monitor all of the betting. They’re the best in the business. There aren’t hundreds of fights being investigated.”
Fighters have been coming out this week about being approached to throw fights. UFC veteran Vince Morales claimed he was offered $70,000 to take a dive in a fight that he ultimately lost anyway. UFC women’s flyweight Vanessa Demopoulos said she had also received offers to throw fights, but her “integrity could never.”
White responded to those allegations during the TMZ interview.
“Why didn’t you tell us that? Or more importantly, why didn’t you tell law enforcement you were approached?” White asked. “It’s really weird fighters are coming out now and saying they were approached. You’re going to be approached now by the FBI.”
