Steve Garcia is taking collateral damage from the UFC Vegas 111 controversy.
Garcia picked up arguably the biggest win of his career at UFC Vegas 110, scoring a stunning first-round knockout over David Onama in his first main event. From the opening bell, Garcia hunted Onama down with relentless pressure and devastating power, forcing the referee to step in after a brutal combination ended the fight.
That victory marked Garcia’s seventh consecutive win, six of which have come by knockout or TKO. But just when he should have been celebrating, the headlines shifted — and not for the right reasons.
Only two fights before Garcia’s victory, Isaac Dulgarian was submitted in the first round by Yadier del Valle. What looked like a routine finish quickly spiraled into controversy when suspicious betting activity was detected before the fight. The odds shifted dramatically, and several sportsbooks even removed prop bets on early finishes.
Within days, the FBI opened an investigation into potential fight-fixing. Dulgarian was released by the UFC, and CEO Dana White confirmed the organization had reported the irregularities.
Although Garcia had nothing to do with it, he still felt the blowback. Onama, the man he defeated, trained at the same gym — Factory X in Colorado — as Dulgarian, leading some fans to unfairly question the legitimacy of Garcia’s win.
“It doesn’t really make it look good,” Garcia said. “Just because you’re training at the same gym, you’re guilty by association. I even got a little bit of it, people saying, ‘Oh, Onama didn’t look like he was trying to win.’ But he did. I’ve got a black eye to prove it.”
Garcia also expressed sympathy for Factory X head coach Marc Montoya, who cut ties with Dulgarian once the allegations came to light. Montoya is widely respected in MMA, but Garcia noted how quickly one bad situation can damage reputations.
“You can’t hate on the gym,” Garcia said. “You can’t hate on everybody else. Marc Montoya’s a straight-up guy. When he disassociated with Dulgarian, I think that was the right move. But it still sucks — because this stuff touches everybody around.”
Garcia compared the fallout to past scandals, such as the James Krause betting controversy in 2022, which led to lifetime bans and fighter suspensions. While the Dulgarian situation remains under investigation, Garcia hopes the truth comes out — and that innocent fighters and coaches don’t get caught in the crossfire.
“It’s not fair to everybody else,” Garcia said. “If you did that, you better have a damn good reason — because otherwise, yeah, you should probably go to jail.”
#AD 💳 Get $5 Free with RedotPay!
Want an easy, safe way to spend and send crypto worldwide? 🌍
Try RedotPay, the prepaid crypto card trusted by over 1M users (4.7★ on Google Play)!
✅ Works with 90%+ of websites & apps
✅ No purchase fees
✅ Safe & easy to use
✅ $5 back on your first card purchase
✅ Exclusive offers & rewards under the “Benefits” tab 🎁
👉 Use my code exqfj and sign up here: https://url.hk/i/en/exqfj to claim your bonus!