The sports world has been rocked by allegations of match fixing in mixed martial arts, and independent journalist Harry Mac has emerged as the primary voice documenting what could become the most significant scandal in UFC history.
In a recent interview, Mac detailed his investigation into the Isaac Dulgarian controversy and revealed disturbing patterns that extend far beyond a single suspicious bout.
The controversy centers on a preliminary card fight at the UFC Apex between Dulgarian and Bruno del Valle that took place on a Saturday evening. What began as routine betting action quickly devolved into chaos as the odds shifted dramatically in the hours before the fight.
Dulgarian opened as a substantial favorite, with lines ranging from minus-230 to minus-250 depending on the sportsbook. By fight time, those numbers had plummeted to approximately minus-130 or minus-140.
“If you follow MMA Twitter, you have probably seen my name over the last couple of days,” Mac explained. “It basically depends on what day you saw it. If you saw it yesterday, people were being very complimentary and nice. If you saw it the day before, I was getting called a lot of slurs. So that’s the beauty of working in MMA.”
The truly alarming development wasn’t just the line movement itself, but the scale of money involved. Mac revealed that the betting handle on the Dulgarian match reached an astonishing $16 million—a figure that defies comprehension for an undercard bout at the UFC’s smaller venue.
“We’re talking about an NBA game or a low tier NFL game here. Not a fight between two unranked guys on the prelims,” Mac emphasized. “It is almost impossible for me to contextualize how insane that is.”
Perhaps most troubling is what Mac uncovered about the timeline of events. According to his sources, five large bets placed in person at the Hard Rock casino triggered internal alerts at the sportsbook. Following standard protocols, the sportsbook reported the suspicious activity to federal investigators, who in turn contacted UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell approximately two hours before the scheduled fight.
“Hunter Campbell is now well aware that there is abnormal betting activity on a UFC fight scheduled on his card,” Mac stated. “From my knowledge, what I understand that happened is Hunter Campbell had conversation, multiple conversations with Isaac Dulgarian’s team. And basically asked him, what the f**k is this? What’s going on here?”
According to Mac’s reporting, Dulgarian’s team assured Campbell that everything was legitimate and the fight proceeded as scheduled. When the bout took place, observers noted what appeared to be questionable technique from Dulgarian, who was ultimately finished by rear naked choke in the first round.
“I’ve never seen a guy at that level simply not… Daniel Cormier was talking about it on the broadcast. A white belt can tell you that if you’re in an RNC, you don’t punch the guy in the face. You fight the top hand. It just doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t add up,” Mac observed.
Multiple sportsbooks pulled betting lines on the fight and related prop bets in the moments before it began, a clear indication that concerns about integrity were widespread. Following the conclusion, the Nevada State Athletic Commission reportedly withheld Dulgarian’s purse while investigations proceeded.
The implications extend well beyond a single controversial bout. Mac reported that federal regulators have flagged over 100 UFC matches this year for abnormal betting patterns, including two additional fighters on the same card as the Dulgarian bout. He also revealed that investigators are examining the work history of referee Tim Herzog for suspicious patterns.
“A fight being flagged doesn’t necessarily imply there’s a fix in or this or that or whatever,” Mac clarified. “All it really implies is that, hey, maybe there was a weird bet on this. Maybe a whale came in and put $100,000 on a fight just for shits and giggles. That still gets flagged.”
However, the volume of flagged fights raises serious questions about the scope of potential corruption. Mac’s reporting indicates that fighters across the UFC roster have been approached with offers to manipulate outcomes.
Fighter Vince Morales publicly stated he was approached by an unknown individual on a casino floor and offered $70,000 in cash to throw a fight, which he claims to have refused.
“For some reason, me breaking this story inspired a bunch of fighters to dry snitch on themselves for times they were offered to throw a fight,” Mac noted with apparent frustration. “That is a federal crime. You need to report that to somebody.”
The journalist believes the problem is partly structural, rooted in the economics of fighter compensation. Many UFC athletes on the preliminary cards earn as little as $12,000 to show, creating financial desperation that makes them vulnerable to corruption.
“You’ve created an environment where, yeah, guess what? There is incentive for guys to go outside the system and get paid,” Mac argued. “You can’t have sponsorships anymore. The UFC effectively killed the quote unquote middle class. There was a time where you could fight in the UFC and make a twenty five, twenty five purse, but still clear six figures of fight selling sponsors.”
When asked whether financial pressure alone explains the phenomenon, given that NBA player Terry Rozier recently faced similar allegations despite earning tens of millions, Mac offered a blunt assessment: “My answer isn’t very sexy. It’s greed, brother. It’s greed. It’s never enough. It’s never going to be enough.”
The journalist indicated that individuals reaching out to fighters include former UFC competitors and figures associated with online gambling communities and cryptocurrency. He described messages circulating that suggested joining groups of UFC fighters and athletes from other sports in schemes to generate extra income.
“I do think there’s an element of these kind of crypto shyster tout guys who, yeah, probably do have a lot of f**king money. And a lot of it is in ways that are hard to trace,” Mac said.
Looking ahead, Mac predicts severe consequences for those implicated. “I can tell you pretty confidently, Isaac Dulgarian’s career is over. He’s never going to fight again. I can tell you that pretty confidently,” he stated.
The more complex question involves potential liability for the UFC itself. Mac argues that by proceeding with the Dulgarian fight despite being notified of suspicious activity by federal investigators, the promotion failed in its obligation to protect the sport’s integrity.
“The risk here outweighs any benefit of putting on apex slop prelim fight for no reason by a thousand fold, which again, forces you to ask the question of, yes, is there involvement with the promotion here?” Mac posited. “I think that’s fair speculation when they have a chance to do what they are supposed to do and protect the integrity of the sport and openly choose not to.”
Mac also raised concerns about potential political interference with investigations, noting the UFC’s close relationship with the current presidential administration. “I don’t think it’s an opinion. I think it is a factual observation that the UFC has aligned themselves with the current administration and yes are more or less at this point a f**king propaganda wing of the administration,” he stated.
The journalist expressed frustration with mainstream MMA media outlets for what he perceives as inadequate coverage of the scandal. “Major outlets still just doing the aww shucks haha uncle Dana cover bit over what could very well be the biggest scandal in the history of the sport,” he wrote on social media.
Mac emphasized that his motivation stems from concern for the sport and its athletes rather than personal gain. “I care about the integrity of this sport and I care about our f**king athletes and it just breaks my f**king heart the way that this system chews them up and spits them out,” he explained.
As investigations continue, Mac believes someone high-ranking within the UFC will ultimately face consequences. “Somebody high up at the UFC is going to wind up being the sacrificial lamb here,” he predicted. “The feds, whoever it is, they’re gonna want their pound of flesh. It’s just a question of whose f**king flesh is it.”
The scandal represents a critical moment for mixed martial arts as it navigates its transformation from niche sport to mainstream entertainment product. With billions of dollars in gambling revenue now flowing through UFC events, the integrity of competition has never been more financially important—or more vulnerable to corruption.
Mac’s reporting suggests the problem extends across multiple levels of the organization and involves various actors both inside and outside the sport. Whether federal investigators will pursue cases aggressively, and whether the UFC will implement meaningful reforms to prevent future incidents, remains uncertain as the story continues to develop.
