Daniel Cormier says one UFC APEX fight he criticized live later turned into a much bigger betting-integrity story. The UFC Hall of Famer did not name the fighter or declare a closed legal finding, but the details he described match the same lane as the Isaac Dulgarian vs. Yadier del Valle controversy.
The conversation started with the hacked Cormier X post from UFC Freedom 250, where a fake message claimed Eric Trump had asked whether any fights were rigged. Cormier said the post was not his and explained why he would never publicly put himself between the UFC, the Trump family, and a fight-integrity question.
I get to the event on Sunday, right? I get to the event on Sunday and I walked past the UFC social media team and they were like, “We were just talking about you.” And I was like, “About what?” They said, “You and Eric Trump.” I was like, “What about me and Eric Trump?” They were like, “Have you not seen your Twitter?” And so then they showed me the Twitter and I was like, “Wait, that’s not me.”
You’re going to risk all of your money, everything you’ve accomplished in your life, right? I’m your boss, right? You’re going to go into an event that I’m putting on, but my son is going to ask you something that he’s not supposed to ask you. So, you are going to go and put that publicly, but everything that you have, your job is gone the moment you do that. Bro, I would not do that.
From there, the hosts asked how important it is for Dana White and the UFC to keep fights authentic. Cormier answered with a story about a bout he worked on commentary, saying the grappling looked so poor that he attacked the technique in real time.
Oh, bro. Did you see whenever, one time they had a fight? They had a fight in the UFC APEX and this one dude was grappling, and he was so horrible at grappling.
I’m on the commentary and I’m just going, “How in the world is this kid so bad?” I mean, I’m literally just breaking him down because I’m like, “This technique is just not up to par. It’s just not up to snuff.” I was like, “He’s so bad. Like, these are basic things that you should be able to do and defend.”
Come to find out, this dude was trying to throw the fight, but not doing a good job.
But the whole time I’m just on him, right? So then they called me and they were like, “DC, the fact that you were just calling him out and you had no idea what was going on.”
That is the quote lane the earlier version did not give enough room. Cormier was not only saying the action looked bad. He said people later connected his commentary reaction to what happened after the fight.
But when the kid lost in the way that he did, they took him in the back because the FBI, bro, the FBI starts watching these betting lines. And if something looks off, they pull the fight. They’ve done that a number of times now.
They had guys weigh in. They had guys weigh in. Then the betting swings in one direction, right? So that makes people think maybe somebody’s injured. There’s something going on to make this line swing so much. So the UFC pulls the fight.
They do not, they don’t play with that shit. They do not. They don’t play with that, bro.
It happened in Texas one time, man. Next thing you know, all of a sudden, FBI agents just come inside the arena. Fight off. It was crazy, dude. They don’t play with that, man.
You have to keep it authentic. It has to be real.
The Dulgarian Link And The Official Result
The bout Cormier appears to be describing lines up with Isaac Dulgarian vs. Yadier del Valle at UFC Vegas 110 on November 1, 2025 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Dulgarian entered that fight at 7-1. Del Valle entered at 9-0 and won by rear-naked choke at 3:41 of round one.
#UFCVegas110 Official Result: Yadier del Valle defeats Isaac Dulgarian by Submission, Rear Naked Choke, Round 1, 3:41
— UFC News (@UFCNews) November 1, 2025
Dulgarian fell to 7-2 and was later released by the UFC. Del Valle moved to 10-0 that night, then later dropped to 10-1 after a unanimous-decision loss to Jordan Leavitt in February 2026. Dulgarian has denied wrongdoing, and Cormier did not identify him by name in the interview, so the story still has to be framed as an alleged betting-integrity case rather than a completed finding.
The official fight highlight from the del Valle submission is below.
Why The Betting History Matters
The UFC had already dealt with the Darrick Minner and James Krause betting scandal after Minner’s November 2022 loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. That case led to UFC roster consequences, Nevada action, and long-running betting scrutiny. The Dulgarian situation landed in the same uncomfortable category because of the sharp movement before the fight, the first-round submission, and the later regulatory review.
Cormier’s point was that suspicious action now gets treated as a promotion-level problem, not just fan speculation. The UFC has used monitoring services, pulled fights when line movement looked wrong, and contacted investigators when a bout raised alarms.
Cormier finished his MMA career at 22-3 with one no contest, won UFC titles at light heavyweight and heavyweight, defended belts in both divisions, and entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022. That is why this story plays differently than a normal bad-performance clip: he says he was calling out the technique live before he knew the same fight would be linked to betting scrutiny.
The subject is still active around the sport. Past MiddleEasy coverage has tracked Dana White’s FBI comments on the Dulgarian case, Nevada extending Dulgarian’s suspension, the Minner betting scandal, and Michael Bisping calling the issue serious.
