Alexander Hernandez has finally detailed one of the most controversial chapters of his UFC career. In January 2026, the UFC canceled his fight against Michael Johnson at UFC 324, and the FBI later became involved in the matter over suspicious betting activity. Reflecting on the incident, Hernandez blames the bureau for peddling a false narrative that led to his fight being scrapped.

The 33-year-old is set to take on former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 332 this weekend. Before he makes the walk in Utah, Hernandez talked about his interaction with the FBI on the Ariel Helwani show.

“Maybe I’ve been on a good killing spree, been calling some shots, maybe I’m getting inducted in a good old boys’ club, maybe I’ll get a pre-fight bonus,” Hernandez said. “I was like, ‘This is cool.’  And get escorted down this hallway, walk into a room, bam, two feds suited up, greet me at the door. Hunter was there for a moment, and he’s like, ‘You know, I can’t be here for this. Just come and talk with me afterwards,’ and I’m like, ‘You know, what in the f—k is going on?’  

“And I sit down, and they essentially just say they’re with the FBI, and, ‘We know what you’ve been doing, we know what you’re up to, and we know what you’re going to do.’  And I’m like, ‘Whoa, what am I going to do?’ Yeah, and man, I hadn’t slept. You know, most of us don’t sleep the night before weigh-ins. So I’ve been up for like 36 hours, two fed agents completely caught off guard, and left alone too, which is f—ing crazy. Learned a lot in that experience about the bullshit of bureaucracy and the lies they’ll tell you just to say anything to feed a fake, false narrative.”   

Alexander Hernandez’s words suggested he was ignorant of the suspicious betting activity surrounding his fight. Hence, the UFC lightweight sounded off on the FBI for implicating him. But it’s indisputable that his fight with Johnson saw heavy line movement, which often invites suspicion.

Just hours before the UFC’s first event on Paramount+, betting sites showed significant line movement on the Hernandez vs. Johnson lightweight fight. Despite his opening as a clear favorite, massive wagers poured in on Hernandez to lose the bout. Later, reports claimed the Texas-based fighter had leaked his injury, which caused bettors to gamble against him just before the fight.

After noticing the unusual movement, the Gaming Integrity Service supposedly called Dana White about the irregularities, and the UFC ultimately decided to scrap the bout. The blame shifted toward Hernandez for the optics of turning into a huge underdog overnight, and he stated that the FBI firmly believed he had planned to drop the matchup against Michael Johnson.

However, Hernandez remained adamant that he would never have thrown the fight just to earn a few bucks.

“But yeah, just completely caught off guard, and I’m like, ‘You know, I have no idea what this is about.’ Hernandez added. “And then eventually it kind of surmised, like, ‘Oh, you guys think I’m going to throw this fight?’ And they’re kind of smirking, like, ‘Yeah, we know you’re going to throw the fight.’  And I’m like, ‘I’m going to f—ing throw this fight? It’s like the best position I’ve ever been in.’ I mean, there’s been plenty of dumb-a—s fights that I shouldn’t have lost that I’ve lost. You should go investigate those, those crazy losses sometimes.  

“But man, I’m in a great position to go win a f—ng awesome fight against Johnson. They’re like, ‘You know, we know you guys don’t make a lot.’ I’m like, ‘We do. Like, both of us are making good money. We shouldn’t be this low on a card. It’s just a f—ing stacked card.’ So we’re way lower than we usually would be on a card.” 

Well, this isn’t the first time Hernandez has claimed he is innocent of any wrongdoing in betting. In fact, right after the UFC pulled his bout, the Texas-based fighter took to Instagram to convey that he would never “dishonor” the sport or himself by participating in shady activity.

Still, Hernandez became the first fighter to actually slam the FBI over the suspicious betting activity. Also, since he is fighting once again, it suggests the UFC deemed him blameless. However, the promotion being stringent was understandable because of what went down just three months before the UFC lightweight entangled in the controversy. 

UFC fires Issac Dulgarian after FBI involvement in suspicious betting case 

Following the betting scandal involving James Krause years ago, one of his pupils, Isaac Dulgarian, grabbed headlines for the alleged betting violation. Dulgarian was a massive favorite to beat his opponent Yadier del Valle at UFC Vegas 110 on November 01, 2025, but what unfolded was nothing short of a shocker.

Before the fight, the betting line showed an anomaly, with Dulgarian quickly turning from a favorite into an underdog. Reportedly, the watchdog Integrity Compliance 360 contacted the UFC about the suspicious line movement, but the promotion proceeded with the bout.

Dulgarian ended up dropping the fight to Del Valle via first-round submission, which quickly raised suspicion. Social media flooded with many pointing out that the fighter deliberately lost the fight to earn money through unethical betting. Soon, the FBI got involved in the matter and started investigating.

The promotion, however, parted ways with Dulgarian right after the controversy.

Days later, Dana White addressed the situation and said they actually questioned Dulgarian and only proceeded with the fight after the fighter assured them he wasn’t taking part in anything shady. But after the fight ended suspiciously, White called the FBI.

“We called the fighter and his lawyer and said, ‘What’s going on?’” White said after the situation first public. “There’s some weird betting action going on in your fight. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you?’ And the kid said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m going to kill this guy.’

“So we said OK. The fight plays out, first-round finish by rear-naked choke. Literally the first thing we did was call the FBI. So we called the FBI; I’ve met with the FBI twice today.”   

Fortunately, Alexander Hernandez, who has been fighting in the UFC for quite a while, escaped punishment. However, fighters need to be extra careful because the FBI would be vigilant if there is even a slight hint of suspicious betting.