Beneil Dariush believes the UFC’s latest gambling scandal is ruining the sport.
Just three years removed from the shady situation surrounding former MMA fighter turned coach James Krause, UFC fighters are under renewed scrutiny after unusual gambling activity was discovered ahead of Isaac Dulgarian’s fight against Yadier del Valle on November 1.
According to Dana White, who spoke at length about the situation on Tuesday, revealing that the UFC was alerted on Saturday by IC360 – the promotion’s sports betting integrity partner – about unusual betting activity during that evening’s featherweight show between Dulgarian and del Valle.
Dulgarian was a -250 when the day started, but an hour before the fight was due to start, a series of bets in favor of del Valle came in and dropped Dulgarian to -150.
Dulgarian subsequently lost the fight via rear choke in the first round, drawing criticism from the commentary team, including Daniel Cormier, who called Dulgarian’s defense “white belt stuff.” The UFC later released Dulgarian from the roster.
Since then, reports have indicated that the FBI is actively investigating Duglarian vs. del Valle and as many as 100 other battles to explore possible combat solutions.
“It just makes you wonder how much of this has happened and how often does it happen,” Dariush shared MMA junkie while discussing the scandal. “That completely ruins our sport if it happens on a regular basis. I don’t believe in gambling, I’m not a fan of gambling, so I wonder if they’ll just remove gambling, but I don’t know if we can. It’s out of our control, out of the UFC’s control.”
Multiple UFC fighters claim they have been approached to fix fights
In the time since Saturday’s card in Las Vegas, other fighters have claimed on social media that they have been approached about organizing fights. Vince Morales, who has 11 UFC fights under his belt and last competed in March, said he was offered $70,000 to take the plunge.
Vanessa Demopoulos, a standout female flyweight with 10 fights under the UFC banner, said she has also been approached about giving fights.
In his interview with TMZWhite made it clear that he is unsure of Dulgarian’s guilt, but admitted that “it doesn’t look good.” He also sent a stern warning to any fighter or coach who tried to fix fights.
“If you try to do this, I’ve been very open and upfront about this; we’re going to be your worst enemy,” White said. “We will come after you immediately, guns blazing, along with the FBI and whoever else we need to catch, and we will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison.”
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