Dana White showed his no-nonsense approach to any whiff of a betting scandal by cancelling Saturday evening’s lightweight fight between Alexander Hernandez and Michael Johnson at UFC 324.
White took immediate action after suspicious betting activity had been flagged up by a gaming integrity service, Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360).
The UFC received similar warnings around Isaac Dulgarian’s bout at UFC Vegas 110 last November.
That fight was allowed to go ahead but is now under investigation by the FBI.
White’s reaction to the warning that there were some betting irregularities ahead of Saturday’s fight was blunt.
“I’m not doing that s**** again,” he said.
It did not overshadow a thrilling main event which saw Paddy Pimblett suffer the first defeat of his career.
Pimblett lost a bloody battle with Justin Gaethje on points as they fought for the interim lightweight title.
Why Was Hernandez vs Johnson Cancelled?
During the course of Saturday evening’s show there had been no reason given as to why the Hernandez vs Johnson clash had been pulled.
It was only after reviewing the fight night at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, that White was able to reveal how events had unfolded.
“It’s happened again,” he said.
“We got called from the gaming integrity service and I said: ‘I’m not doing this s*** again.’
“So we pulled the fight.”
White confirmed that an investigation would take place but at this stage he had no evidence that either fighter was aware of the pre-fight betting activity.
“The FBI is already deep into all this stuff anyway.
“I’m sure this one will be next.”
Responding to whether either fighter would be suspended pending an investigation, White said: “That I don’t know.”
What happened With Isaac Dulgarian?
Isaac Dulgarian was the hot favourite to beat underdog Yadier del Valle in a featherweight clash at UFC Vegas 110 in November 2025.
A few hours before the fight was due to take place, regulators and sportbooks detected a flurry of activity around Del Valle to win.
IC360 flagged this up to the UFC but after White had spoken with Dulgarian the fight went ahead as planned.
Dulgarian suffered a shock first-round defeat and White took action.
He gave details of the conversation that evening with Dulgarian.
“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?
“The kid said: ‘No, absolutely not. I’m going to kill this guy’.
“The fight plays out and [there’s a] first-round finish by rear-naked choke.
“Literally, the first thing we did was call the FBI.”
UFC acted swiftly and released Dulgarian from their roster of fighters.
The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Dulgarian while investigations continue.
Dulgarian and his coach Marc Montoya have denied any involvement in foul play.
Live Betting Problems With UFC Delayed Streams
White spoke about various issues in his post-fight press conference, including a question regarding whether the slight delay watching events on streaming services affected the live UFC betting experience for some viewers.
“I’d never thought about it, it’s a great question.
“If you’re on a delay, depending on how bad the delay is, you probably wouldn’t even be able to live bet.
“By the time you wanted to bet on something that probably would be over.
“But even the delay is going to be like 15 or 20 seconds or something.
“It’s not like there’s some huge delay in the broadcast.
“When I watch the fights when I’m in other countries, whether I’m on vacation or something, I’m in a group text with the matchmakers and they’re talking about s*** I haven’t seen yet.
“But it’s only like a 20 second, 30 second delay.”
