Less than two weeks after the NBA illegal gambling scandal emerged, it looks like another major sporting organization has trouble on its hands. The UFC announced on Sunday that it released top prospect Isaac Dulgarian following his loss on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sportsbooks took a huge number of bets on Dulgarian losing in the first round right before the fight began. The bout lasted less than four minutes before Yadier del Valle submitted the Missouri native.
Commentator Daniel Cormier remarked that Dulgarian was doing none of the basics for defending a rear-naked choke. Meanwhile, Michael Chiesa highlighted the beginner mistakes Dulgarian made during the fight, calling his performance:
absolute trash.”
The 29-year-old had been a sizable -270 favorite in the lead-up to the fight, before his odds suddenly went down to -135 following a flurry of betting activity. Some sportsbooks even withdrew the market due to the large sums of wagers. Caesars Sportsbook and William Hill Sportsbook are refunding people who bet on the fight.
Some people on social media have pointed out how James Krause once coached Dulgarian. UFC coach Krause was suspended indefinitely by the UFC in December 2022 over suspicious betting patterns before a first-round loss by his fighter, Derrick Minner.
