$16 Million UFC Bet Under Scrutiny—Will the Betting Scandal Spill Into WWE?

File this under: things I did not expect to write about on a random Apex card. A prelim-level featherweight bout at UFC Vegas 110 is now at the center of a betting mess big enough that the FBI walked into the UFC offices. Yes, really.

What kicked this off

Isaac Dulgarian fought Yadier Del Valle on the UFC Vegas 110 card at the Apex. Del Valle lost by rear-naked choke in the first round. On its own, not crazy. But here is where it gets messy.

The allegation: Del Valle was offered money to lose. That claim started circulating alongside some truly bizarre betting action on the fight. Harry Mac, who is associated with The Bookie's Basement, laid out what he says happened in a video posted to Instagram (shared by Submission Radio): according to him, roughly $16 million was wagered on Dulgarian vs. Del Valle. For a non-marquee fight on a small-room Apex show, that volume is not normal.

How the UFC reacted (and why the feds got involved)

According to Dana White, the UFC's bet-monitoring partner IC360 flagged unusual betting patterns days before the fight. White says the promotion reached out to Del Valle and his lawyer, asked if anything was off, and got the all-clear. The fight went ahead.

Once it ended the way it did, UFC officials smelled smoke. White told TMZ Sports they contacted the FBI immediately. He also said the UFC offices were crawling with agents a day or two ago after he got on the phone with federal authorities. Side note: in that interview, a name gets dropped as an FBI director that isn't actually the FBI director; point is, the feds are on it.

White on the idea that other fights were compromised: 'bullshit.'

Why this has WWE fans side-eyeing TKO

UFC and WWE live under the same corporate umbrella now: TKO. So when one brand has a betting scandal headline, the other brand's fans (and regulators, and sportsbooks) start asking if there's any splash damage.

Short answer: history says probably not. These two have handled their fires separately so far.

• When the Janel Grant lawsuit forced Vince McMahon out of WWE leadership, nothing spilled over onto UFC operations.
• When UFC got hammered by a long-running antitrust case brought by nearly 1,200 fighters, WWE business carried on untouched.

Unless you're Ari Emanuel or sitting in a TKO board meeting, you can't quantify the risk precisely. But based on precedent, I wouldn't expect this Dulgarian/Del Valle situation to derail anything Triple H and company are doing on the WWE side. Different products, separate leadership tracks, and historically, separate fallout.

The quick-and-dirty timeline

Because this one is a little knotty, here's the clean version:

1. IC360 alerts UFC to weird betting on Dulgarian vs. Del Valle ahead of UFC Vegas 110.
2. UFC contacts Del Valle and his lawyer; they say everything is fine; fight proceeds.
3. Del Valle loses by first-round rear-naked choke.
4. Post-fight, UFC contacts the FBI; agents show up at UFC offices shortly after.
5. Harry Mac claims around $16 million was bet on the fight, which is wildly high for an Apex non-headliner.
6. Fans speculate about wider corruption; White publicly shoots that down as 'bullshit.'
7. WWE concern pops up because both companies are under TKO; past examples suggest issues don't cross-contaminate.

Where this lands (for now)

This is still under investigation. The allegation that Del Valle was offered money to lose is out there; the odd betting patterns are documented enough that the UFC's monitors flagged them; and federal agents got involved fast. That's already a black eye for the promotion, even if it ends with just a handful of bad actors outside the cage.

As for WWE: expect noise, not consequences. If that changes, it will come from TKO brass at the very top, not because of a featherweight fight gone sideways at the Apex.