Betting alarms rang loudly at UFC Vegas 110 when Isaac Dulgarian’s odds unexpectedly collapsed moments before he walked out as reports emerged that prop bets were pulled, sportsbooks froze wagers, and fans sensed trouble brewing. Minutes later, Dulgarian was submitted in the first round and reportedly released from the promotion within 24 hours. The UFC confirmed an investigation, stressing “nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport.” But with sportsbooks like William Hill issuing refunds, it’s clear this wasn’t dismissed as a fluke.

For longtime followers, this feels eerily familiar. In 2022, Darrick Minner’s flagged fight led to the James Krause betting scandal, lifetime bans, and major sportsbooks even halting UFC betting. Now, Ariel Helwani has reported FBI awareness of suspicious line movements and suggested this incident is not “isolated.” If multiple fighters have been approached to throw fights, as he claims, then where does the UFC draw the line when gambling sways headlines as much as finishes?

As the conversation intensifies, UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush stepped into the debate with a perspective many fighters avoid. Speaking to MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, he suggested the UFC might already know the truth as he stated, “How often it happens, right. I wonder how often it happens… that totally ruins our sport, you know, if this is something that’s happening on a regular basis.”

Dariush didn’t stop at worry, he floated a nuclear idea as he further shared in the interview, “What I’m about to say is not going to be popular, but obviously I’m not a believer in gambling, I’m not a fan of gambling, so I wonder if they will just remove gambling, but I don’t know if we can. I don’t know if you could do it because you know, it’s outside of our control, outside the UFC’s control.”

His point? The industry that turned betting into a promotional engine may be too big for Dana White or the UFC to unplug, even if gambling pressure is seemingly poisoning fighter trust and fan faith. After all, the UFC’s broadcast deals feature betting sponsors. Fighters often share their favorite picks, and fan engagement now lives partly inside live odds and betting apps. Remove gambling, and you remove a major artery of modern MMA business.

As we mentioned earlier, one fight scandal nearly shut down UFC betting in 2022. Now we have refunded wagers, an investigation, leaked allegations of dozens of flagged bouts, and whispers that multiple fighters have been approached about fixes.

Even if no bout was thrown at UFC Vegas 110, perception alone erodes trust, and trust is oxygen for competitive sport. Once viewers think wins or losses are bought and not earned, the sport stops being a sport. Boxing learned that lesson the hard way. MMA now stands on the same cliff as UFC boss Dana White recently confirmed that the promotion had met with the FBI over the latest allegations!

Dana White confirms FBI involvement as he lays out a chilling warning

In a recent conversation with TMZ Sports, Dana White has finally broken his silence on the UFC Vegas 110 controversy that has dominated headlines in the MMA sphere. According to the UFC CEO, “We called the fighter and his lawyer and said, ‘What’s going on? 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.”

The flag was raised by IC360, as per White, a sports betting monitoring service that raised the alarm about “unusual action” before the fight. Once the surprise ending to the fight happened, the UFC head honcho revealed, “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.”

He claimed he even spoke with FBI director Kash Patel. Soon after, the office “was full of FBI agents.” And his warning to anyone thinking about fixing fights wasn’t subtle, “If you try to do this, I’ve been very vocal and very open about this, we will be your worst enemy. We will immediately go after you, guns blazing, with the FBI and whoever else we need to get. We will do everything we can to make sure you go to prison.”

So what’s next? Tougher monitoring, mandatory reporting, and federal cooperation are obvious. But Beneil Dariush’s harder truth remains: can a sport so entwined with global betting ever fully guard its integrity? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!