Opinion: Isaac Dulgarian Bout at #UFCVegas110 Should Have Been Canceled

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

​

It’s hard to find anything positive that came out of UFC Vegas 110 on Nov. 1. There was a massive botch from the commission following a severe eye poke to Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the co-main event, resulting in one of the most confusing situations in the history of the sport. No one seemed to have a grasp on what the rules were and appeared to make things up as they went along. It doesn’t matter if one believes karma played out appropriately when Cortes-Acosta knocked out Ante Delija. There are rules for how that type of situation plays out, and in no way, shape or form were they followed. It’s impossible to take MMA seriously as a sport when the largest organization can’t get itself together.

While that was a terrible situation, it didn’t prove to be the most damaging event from the show. That would fall on the Ultimate Fighting Championship suffering another potential compromised bout. Yes, another one. How that could happen after the Darrick Minner-Nuerdanbieke Shayilan fiasco from 2022 is beyond me.


Out of all the sports over the last 30 years, MMA has the most troubled history with fixed fights. Whether that’s outright throwing a fight or allowing an unknown injury to be leaked to a select group of fighters, it has plagued the sport from the beginning. High-profile names have been linked to these scandals in the early days, with UFC tournament winners Don Frye and Oleg Taktarov both having highly dubious victories under their belts. Mark Coleman has admitted to throwing a fight. While it has been over two decades since an elite fighter has been connected to a fixed fight in that way, it doesn’t mean there haven’t been any scandals associated with the sport.

The situation with Minner wasn’t a thrown fight in the traditional sense. Minner went out and genuinely appeared to try to win. Unfortunately for him, he was clearly compromised due to injury, and it came out that teammates such as Jeff Molina placed some heavy bets against him. The betting lines for the contest swung heavily in favor of Shayilan in the hours before their encounter, indicating more than just his teammates were placing money on the fight. Sound familiar?

Isaac Dulgarian was a notable favorite against Yadier Del Valle. Hours before the fight, there was a heavy swing in favor of Del Valle, with most of the bets coming in for a first-round finish. UFC CEO Dana White has stated that the company spoke with Dulgarian and his lawyer beforehand, asking about the crazy betting line swings and the rumors swirling around the fight; and they took his word that there was nothing going on. Only after Dulgarian proceeded to lose in the first round did the UFC begin to take the issue seriously—after the damage was done.

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Opinion: Isaac Dulgarian Bout at UFC Vegas 110 Should Have Been Canceled

Given the gambling scandal that rocked the NBA just a few weeks ago, the Ultimate Fighting Championship should have had its fight-fixing guard up even more, writes Dayne Fox.

www.sherdog.com

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[Siver!]

Bottom line: not disclosing injuries to the AC should be a suspendable offence.

There are people involved in this sport who routinely shirk their duty of care to the athletes.

Some injuries you can compete through, others you can't. Beyond that, some are downright dangerous - and not just to the injured party, as with staph.

There should be a list of injuries where you can't compete, and others where you sign a disclaimer.

Time for the sport to grow up. Last minute line up changes suck, but if a guy can't fight, don't put him in there just to please weirdos like Dana.

 

[don't ask]

I agree. The UFC handled this terribly and are complicit in potential fight fixing (as well as what they've done on their own to rig fights, such as Sterling vs. O'Malley).

 

[jeff7b9]

If it is in fact true the UFC was made aware of suspected fight fixing prior to the fight * and moved forward with the fight anyway... that is pretty fucked up.


Edit: there are now multiple yt videos claiming this is the case and potentially even that UFC should have known some particularly damning details prior to the fight.

When people said "suspicious betting activity" that was apparently 5 people betting over a mil each AT THE SAME CASINO in approximately one hour.

Thats not "a little suspicious" that's red handed shady as fuck

And UFC sits at the intersection of several very very small and tight knit communities within which it is nearly impossible to believe this information did not travel very quick, and there is already evidence that it was publicly posted prior to the fight.

 

[EndlessCritic]

If it is in fact true the UFC was made aware of suspected fight fixing prior to the fight and moved forward with the fight anyway... that is pretty fucked up.

How is it fucked up?

They were made aware by the casino that there were a couple of unusually large bets the day of the fight.

The UFC confronted Dulgarian as to whether he was intending to lose. Dulgarian gave him their word that there was no fix.

Dulgarian proceeded to lose in the first round.

First of all, there's nothing inherently impossible about there being no grand scheme, but instead a confident whale who was simply confident Del Vaille was going to win.

Further, the notion that Dulgarian would be confronted about a possible fight fixing, and then still throw the fight, is somewhat preposterous.

It's even more preposterous when you consider that Dulgarian was considered a top prospect, 2-1 in the UFC (with his loss being a robbery), and he had just signed a new contract with the UFC. This may have been a fight on the undercard, but Dulgarian was perceived as having the skill and athleticism to go quite far in the sport. For him to throw away his career like this (assuming he agreed to the fix), is kind of crazy.

 

[jeff7b9]

How is it fucked up?

They were made aware by the casino that there were a couple of unusually large bets the day of the fight.

The UFC confronted Dulgarian as to whether he was intending to lose. Dulgarian gave him their word that there was no fix.

Dulgarian proceeded to lose in the first round.

First of all, there's nothing inherently impossible about there being no grand scheme, but instead a confident whale who was simply confident Del Vaille was going to win.

Further, the notion that Dulgarian would be confronted about a possible fight fixing, and then still throw the fight, is somewhat preposterous.

It's even more preposterous when you consider that Dulgarian was considered a top prospect, 2-1 in the UFC (with his loss being a robbery), and he had just signed a new contract with the UFC. This may have been a fight on the undercard, but Dulgarian was perceived as having the skill and athleticism to go quite far in the sport. For him to throw away his career like this (assuming he agreed to the fix), is kind of crazy.

Really. You need this explained to you?


You are naive as fuck guy.




They were alerted of heavy action for a first round finish.

The guy went out and got finished in the first round

And did so in such a way where the commentary team who presumably was not aware of the alleged fix still noticed and mentioned he was doing obviously incorrect rudimentary technique in not handfighting the RNC



What about that could possibly be confusing as to how that is fucked up?


It was so obvious that numerous sources identified it immediately including the live commentary team (DC, Bisping and Cheisa all remarked on his suspicious actions of punching rather than hand fighting and said it looked amateurish and uncharacteristic) and multiple online betting companies nearly immediately gave credits or waived the results.


There were public posts prior to the fight indicating the fix.



And the UFC said.... nah it's cool, the guy throwing the fight said he ain't throwing the fight, we investigated ourselves and found ourselves to be innocent and that's that.

 

[FreedomCricket]

Yall complain about fighter pay and treatment but when Dana gives a fighter the benefit of the doubt, ya freak out.

 

[mkess101]

How is it fucked up?

They were made aware by the casino that there were a couple of unusually large bets the day of the fight.

The UFC confronted Dulgarian as to whether he was intending to lose. Dulgarian gave him their word that there was no fix.

Dulgarian proceeded to lose in the first round.

First of all, there's nothing inherently impossible about there being no grand scheme, but instead a confident whale who was simply confident Del Vaille was going to win.

Further, the notion that Dulgarian would be confronted about a possible fight fixing, and then still throw the fight, is somewhat preposterous.

It's even more preposterous when you consider that Dulgarian was considered a top prospect, 2-1 in the UFC (with his loss being a robbery), and he had just signed a new contract with the UFC. This may have been a fight on the undercard, but Dulgarian was perceived as having the skill and athleticism to go quite far in the sport. For him to throw away his career like this (assuming he agreed to the fix), is kind of crazy.

Nope. There were a BUNCH (not a couple) of dormant accounts that not only bet Del Valle to win, but made large plays (relative to normal prop action for a prelim) on Del Valle wins in rd 1.

Now watch tbe fight. Dulgarian (a grappler) shows absolutely horrible technique defending the rnc.

AT BEST it's fishy as hell.

 

[Rear Naked Toke]

How is it fucked up?

They were made aware by the casino that there were a couple of unusually large bets the day of the fight.

The UFC confronted Dulgarian as to whether he was intending to lose. Dulgarian gave him their word that there was no fix.

Dulgarian proceeded to lose in the first round.

First of all, there's nothing inherently impossible about there being no grand scheme, but instead a confident whale who was simply confident Del Vaille was going to win.

Further, the notion that Dulgarian would be confronted about a possible fight fixing, and then still throw the fight, is somewhat preposterous.

It's even more preposterous when you consider that Dulgarian was considered a top prospect, 2-1 in the UFC (with his loss being a robbery), and he had just signed a new contract with the UFC. This may have been a fight on the undercard, but Dulgarian was perceived as having the skill and athleticism to go quite far in the sport. For him to throw away his career like this (assuming he agreed to the fix), is kind of crazy.

 

[TomTomNT]

First of, people need to stop making accusations with proof thats based on more accusations...Nothing in any post or article here is concrete proof that anyone was cheating...Suspicious? Yes, looks odd? Yes, but people freak out all the time over random shit, big bets are placed last minute constantly, maybe not on undercard fighters sure, but are you telling me i can place 5 big bets on some undercard fighter and get him pulled from a fight like some of you suggest?

NBA let players who were being investigated for multiple years not only play but get traded to another team when they knew there was an investigation going on which turned into that whole nba gambling fiasco. You cant just end peoples careers because a casino might have lost money...Unless there is some written proof, voice recordings, msges or something along those lines(which as of right now there are none), how can anyone actually prove that this guy was throwing a fight? We have seen a ton of people get choked out by not hand fighting... fighters punch over hand fight all the time, yes i agree its 100% suspicious the way it all went down, but suspicious dont mean guilty, otherwise Tom Aspinall would have been cut from the ufc over his so called "eye poke" that i would say most ppl, including other mma fighters found suspicious, or Ankalaev who apparently forgot how to move, strike, or grapple and just laid on the ground covered up for 40 seconds straight without moving, which some ppl found suspicious.

Im not trying to take any sides, if a month from now it comes out that there is legit proof this guy was cheating, hes arrested and all that good stuff, im 100% for it, im not some die hard Dulgarian fanboy or something, i just think we have seen over the last few years how easy it is to accuse someone of wrong doing and how fast people jump on bandwagons, and then months later it comes out that maybe the guy was innocent, or the facts got mixed up, and by that point the guy had his career ruined, kinda like whats happening now.

I feel like the UFC has done a better job than the NBA, someone came to Dana telling him there might be something funky going on, Dana went to the guy AND his lawyer, talked to both of them and asked if anything was going on, he was told no, what else are you supposed to do at that point without any proof? I feel like you have to let him fight, afterwards alert the FBI which was done, and let the authorities handle it, people are so blood thirsty these days for the slightest "gatcha" moment.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

@HI SCOTT NEWMAN @Luthien @don't ask @Neck&Neck @Bobby Boulders @helax @BroRogan @lsa

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

@lsa @Slobodan

Cece will make the UFC Great Again

 

[biscuitsbrah]

I think people are forgetting when master thong placed a bet against urijah faber in a fight. I forget which one but it was said that urijah had a pretty bad injury.

Master thong probably didn’t have a ton of money so it wasn’t a big deal at the time.

I also respect Minner for trying to kick with his torn knee. What a warrior/retard move lmao

 

[Koala]

Time for the sport to grow up. Last minute line up changes suck, but if a guy can't fight, don't put him in there just to please weirdos like Dana.

US fighters, who don't have another job and are not part of their wives' healthcare insurance coverage, have to fight to get the UFC healthcare insurance, as they are independent contractors and not employees
Yes, that's a poor man's sport

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

@HI SCOTT NEWMAN @Luthien @don't ask @Neck&Neck @Bobby Boulders @helax @BroRogan @lsa

I have informed @BroRogan of the fixed fight and he will be arresting both. Lets not forget what happened the last time there was a fixed fake fight on that UFC fight night card Tae Hyun Bang vs Leo Kuntz , he sent them to prison, Tae Hyun Bang is not enjoying his time right now as we speak in the slammer, with a large imposing shadow hanging around in the corner of the slammers shower area.

 

[EndlessCritic]

It was so obvious that numerous sources identified it immediately including the live commentary team (DC, Bisping and Cheisa all remarked on his suspicious actions of punching rather than hand fighting and said it looked amateurish and uncharacteristic) and multiple online betting companies nearly immediately gave credits or waived the results.

I've watched it multiple times. Dulgarian was handfighting the whole time. He was only punching once he had Valle's hand controlled.

The last punch Dulgarian even throws happens with 1:55 on the clock. The finish doesn't even come until over 30 seconds later.

At 1:47 Cormier admonishes Dulgarian for not handfighting, and then Bisping corrects Cormier because Dulgarian is fighting the hands. Bisping says at 1:45: "He is there", referring to the fact that he was clearly handfighting.

Bisping repeatedly refers to Dulgarian as having "all heart" and "pure heart", including after the finish, speaking to how hard Dulgarian was fighting to not get finished.

There is nothing about Dulgarian's performance that is indicative of a fix. In retrospect it was extremely unwise to throw those punches, but lots of fighters have done that.

 

[Blastbeat]

I've watched it multiple times. Dulgarian was handfighting the whole time. He was only punching once he had Valle's hand controlled.

The last punch Dulgarian even throws happens with 1:55 on the clock. The finish doesn't even come until over 30 seconds later.

At 1:47 Cormier admonishes Dulgarian for not handfighting, and then Bisping corrects Cormier because Dulgarian is fighting the hands. Bisping says at 1:45: "He is there", referring to the fact that he was clearly handfighting.

Bisping repeatedly refers to Dulgarian as having "all heart" and "pure heart", including after the finish, speaking to how hard Dulgarian was fighting to not get finished.

There is nothing about Dulgarian's performance that is indicative of a fix. In retrospect it was extremely unwise to throw those punches, but lots of fighters have done that.

Welp, the FBI and the UFC feel differently, thats why theyre doing an investigation. And its why Dulgarian has been released.
But go ahead and call em up, show em your post.

 

[SKYNET]

This is a pretty awful run for the UFC. I have a bad taste in my mouth and all my casual buddies are completely disconnected after this and the recent NBA fiasco.

 

[chinarice]

I think people are forgetting when master thong placed a bet against urijah faber in a fight. I forget which one but it was said that urijah had a pretty bad injury.

Master thong probably didn’t have a ton of money so it wasn’t a big deal at the time.

I also respect Minner for trying to kick with his torn knee. What a warrior/retard move lmao

Looks like it was against Barao that he did that bet.