- Isaac Dulgarian has been released from the UFC after a first-round submission loss to Yadier del Valle on Saturday night.
- The loss is now being investigated as money started to pour in on a Dulgarian first-round loss the day of the fight.
- The UFC is the latest sport to be hit by a potential gambling scandal, and this isn’t the first time it has happen.
Isaac Dulgarian has been axed from the UFC roster after a first-round loss on Saturday raised suspicions of potential match-fixing.
The UFC joins the NBA, college basketball, and soccer in having potential gambling scandals hanging over its head.
Bookies Notice Heavy Shift in Dulgarian Odds Hours Before Loss
It was reported on Monday morning that Dulgarian was released by the UFC.
Dulgarian was a big favorite heading into his featherweight match with Yadier del Valle, priced at around -240 or -250 early on Saturday. But he closed around -150 by Saturday night. The line shift was so drastic that some bookies pulled the fight altogether, and some refunded players who bet on the fight.
The UFC is paired with IC360 since 2023, and it is known as the “official betting integrity service for the UFC”. Neither side has commented on the news yet, nor has Dulgarian. But some MMA betting sites found that there was a lot of money suddenly coming in on a Dulgarian first-round loss. Dulgarian was taken down easily by de Valle and eventually submitted at 3:41 in the first round.
The 29-year-old American is 7-2 in his professional career, and had won two of his first three fights in the UFC heading into this match. But it doesn’t look good for Dulgarian that he has been reportedly released already, as the UFC could be looking to get ahead of this situation. However, as of 11:00 AM ET, Dulgarian’s profile is still on the UFC site.
The UFC joins others in having potential gambling scandals hang over their sport.
Are Gambling Scandals Becoming an Epidemic in Sports?
The UFC is the latest entity to have to deal with potential issues in sports betting. Of course, the NBA gambling scandal is, arguably, the biggest story in sports. There is also a potential betting scandal in Turkey brewing, pertaining to hundreds of referees that have betting accounts.
In September, the NCAA found 13 players from six schools that were allegedly involved in a massive gambling scheme.
Even in the UFC, Darrick Minner was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission after it was found that he lost a fight to Shaylin Nuerdanbieke in the first round of their November 2022 fight. Minner was reportedly hurt going into the fight, but he and his coach, James Krause, didn’t say that he had an injury. However, there were some suspicious betting patterns heading into that fight, and Minner was released by the UFC.
This sort of thing has been happening in sports. However, there are more ways to get caught now, which we have seen throughout sports. If Dulgarian did get released, it would be safe to assume that the UFC suspects something happened with the major shift in the betting lines. But this isn’t the first time that it has happened, and it won’t be the last!
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