In a surprising turn of events after their featherweight bout at UFC Vegas 88, Isaac Dulgarian has leveled accusations of cheating against opponent Christian Rodriguez.
Dulgarian dominated the first two rounds, repeatedly taking Rodriguez down and controlling the action on the ground. However, Rodriguez mounted an impressive comeback in the third round, nearly finishing Dulgarian before settling for a split decision victory.
In his post-fight interview, a frustrated Dulgarian claimed foul play was involved. “This guy was lubed up, he had lotion on or something,” Dulgarian stated. “You know, I’ve traveled thousands of bodies and I know when people are cheating…About 3 minutes into round one, I’m completely dry and this guy is shining.”
ADCC winner Gordon Ryan has previously suggested measures to address greasing, including a financial penalty that would impact the match outcome and giving part of the penalty to the opposing athlete. It should be noted that UFC Grappling invitational insists on long sleeve rashguard in fall out from these accusations.
However, the narrative took a twist when Vera explicitly accused O’Malley of greasing at UFC 299 this past weekend.
The allegations seem to refer to Rodriguez potentially using greasing to make himself more slippery and difficult to grapple. If true, it could partially explain how Rodriguez was able to reverse position and take over in the final round after being outwrestled for most of the fight.
So far, Rodriguez has not responded to Dulgarian’s charges. UFC officials have also not commented on whether any follow-up investigation or disciplinary action is being considered.
Uncommon to see in MMA now – Peruvian necktie attempts. Usually only a reasonable option by setting up a front headlock from turtle or chaining other arm in front head attacks. Tends to keep tightness when opponent rolls to defend. Misha Cirkunov and Pat Curran had good ones too pic.twitter.com/m1b9mnzsoN
— Josie Aldo (@JosieAldoMMA) March 17, 2024
The bad blood and controversy threaten to overshadow what was an exciting back-and-forth battle between the featherweight contenders. It remains to be seen if the accusations will be substantiated or if this was simply a case of a sore loser making excuses after blowing a sizable lead.