Las Vegas — Hours after the bout was scratched from the UFC 324 card, and just following the event, UFC CEO and President Dana White confirmed what had widely been assumed:
The lightweight fight between Michael Johnson and Alexander Hernandez that had been cancelled Saturday afternoon had been removed from the card on Paramount+ due to betting irregularities.
Shortly before that cancellation, at least one sportsbook, BetOnline.ag, had announced that they were limiting action on the fight. As it turns out, the promotion was informed of irregularities in bets placed on the bout by their integrity partner.
“Yeah. That’s what it is. Happened again,” White told media outlets on hand at the T-Mobile Arena, including Cageside Press. “We got called from the gaming integrity service, and I said ‘I’m not doing this sh*t again.’ So we pulled the fight.”
Though White didn’t list them by name, the UFC is partnered with IC360, formerly U.S. Integrity. And it’s not the first time a UFC fight has raised red flags in the betting world recently. Last November, Isaac Dulgarian’s loss to Yadier del Valle resulted in the fighter being cut by the promotion, and a larger investigation. That, after Dulgarian entered as the favorite, only to be submitted with ease.
Dulgarian has denied any wrongdoing.
White expects another investigation this time out. “The FBI is already deep into this stuff anyway. I’m sure this one will be next.” As to whether one or both sides of the fight might be on ice for a while, “that I don’t know,” said White.
“Betting irregularities” don’t necessarily mean a fight is fixed. In many cases, news of a fighter entering a bout injured may leak, resulting in word getting around in the betting community. Any large, unexpected shift in money to one fighter or another can raise red flags.
