UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena had two fewer bouts than expected due to multiple reasons. This included suspicious betting activity.
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pulled the lightweight bout between Alexander Hernandez (18-8) and Michael Johnson (24-19 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The promotion did not provide a reason at the time, but CEO Dana White provided further information during his post-fight press conference.
"That's what it is," White said when asked if betting played a role in the decision to pull the bout. "It happened again.
"We got called from the gaming integrity service, and I said, 'I'm not doing this s—- again.' So we pulled the fight."
Dana White confirms Michael Johnson vs. Alexander Hernandez was pulled from #UFC324 due to suspicious betting movement.
"I'm not doing this sh*t again, so we pulled the fight." pic.twitter.com/XS6micE9JI
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 25, 2026
White added that an investigation will take place into the suspicious betting activity. He noted that the FBI "is already deep" into these situations, so this pulled bout involving Hernandez and Johnson will likely be next.
The Hernandez-Johnson bout was the second pulled from UFC 324. The promotion also canceled an earlier bout after fighter Cameron Smotherman fainted during weigh-ins.
The UFC has dealt with previous betting scandals. Back in November, the Integrity Compliance 360 alerted the promotion to abnormal interest in a featherweight bout between Isaac Dulgarian and Yadier del Valle.
This fight continued on schedule. Dulgarian, the favorite to win, ultimately lost by a first-round submission. According to ESPN, multiple sportsbooks said that large bets came in on del Valle leading up to the fight.
The UFC released Dulgarian after this scandal. White later told TMZ that he and the promotion had reached out to Dulgarian and his lawyer after receiving the call from Integrity Compliance 360.
They asked if Dulgarian had an injury or if he owed anybody money. The fighter denied this and said that he "would kill" his opponent in the octagon. Once Dulgarian lost by first-round submission, White reached out to the FBI and had multiple meetings with them.
