Las Vegas – Hours after the fight was removed from the UFC 324 card, and just after the event, UFC CEO and President Dana White confirmed what was widely believed:
The lightweight fight between Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez that was canceled Saturday afternoon was pulled from the card on Paramount+ due to betting irregularities.
Shortly before that cancellation, at least one sportsbook, BetOnline.aghad announced that they were limiting action in the battle. It turns out that the promotion was informed by their integrity partner of irregularities in bets placed on the fight.
“Yes. It is. It happened again,” White told the media in attendance at the T-Mobile Arena, including Cageside Press. “We got a call from gaming integrity and I said, ‘I’m not doing this again.’ So we stopped fighting.”
Although White did not name them, the UFC is partnering with IC360, formerly US Integrity. And it’s not the first time a UFC fight has raised red flags in the gambling world recently. Last November, Isaac Dulgarian’s loss to Yadier del Valle resulted in the fighter being cut by the promotion and a wider investigation. That, after Dulgarian came in as the favorite, but was submitted with ease.
Dulgarian has denied all allegations.
White expects another investigation this time. “The FBI is already deep into this stuff anyway. I’m sure this will be next.” Whether one or both sides of the battle are on ice for a while, “I don’t know,” White said.
“Irregular betting” does not necessarily mean a fight has been resolved. In many cases, news of a fighter entering a fight injured can leak out, causing word to spread throughout the gambling community. Any major, unexpected shift of money to one fighter or another could raise red flags.
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