A UFC Vegas 88 loser is calling out his opponent for cheating (Video)

One of the fighters who fell short at UFC Vegas 88 is accusing his opponent of cheating.
UFC Vegas 88
UFC Vegas 88 / Handout/GettyImages
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UFC featherweight Isaac Dulgarian has accused his UFC Vegas 88 opponent of greasing.

Dulgarian fell to Christian Rodriguez by split decision in Las Vegas. After losing a closely-contested fight, Dulgarian took to social media, where he accused Rodriguez of being greased up to avoid grappling exchanges.

"I used a lot of strength and energy to keep this guy down. About three minutes into Round 1, I'm completely dry, and this guy is shining!" Dulgarian claimed. "I've grappled thousands of bodies, and I know when people are cheating. This guy was lubed up, he had lotion on or something."

Watch the video below.

As of this writing, Rodriguez hasn't responded to Dulgarian's accusations, nor is there concrete evidence of wrongdoing.

Rodriguez and Dulgarian put on one of the most competitive fights at UFC Vegas 88. The card was headlined by Marcin Tybura submitting Tai Tuivasa in a pivotal heavyweight matchup.

After three rounds, Rodriguez walked away with the split decision victory to hand Dulgarian his first professional loss. Before UFC Vegas 88, Dulgarian had won his first six professional fights, including his UFC debut in August. UFC fans, pundits, and fighters were split on who they felt deserved the nod on the judges' scorecards. It was a back-and-forth battle between Dulgarian and Rodriguez on the feet and ground.

Isaac Dulgarian accuses Christian Rodriguez of greasing

Dulgarian is the latest UFC fighter to accuse his opponent of cheating. Hours after a UFC 299 loss to Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera took to Twitter to accuse the UFC bantamweight champion of greasing.

Vera accused O'Malley of using an excessive amount of hair gel that made his body slippery as the fight played out. As of this writing, there's no direct evidence of O'Malley attempting to gain an unfair advantage at UFC 299.

Gilbert Burns also accused Jorge Masvidal of greasing after beating him by unanimous decision at UFC 287. Masvidal denied any wrongdoing and Burns walked back the accusations just days after making the initial claims.

Discussions of greasing first ramped up when Georges St-Pierre was caught having Vaseline rubbed on his back in between rounds at UFC 94. He defeated BJ Penn by fourth-round TKO to defend the UFC welterweight title.

Rodriguez has now won four in a row after losing his UFC debut to Jonathan Pearce in Feb. 2022. After a brief bantamweight stint, which included wins over Raul Rosas Jr. and Cameron Saaiman, Rodriguez made the full-time move up to 145 pounds. Dulgarian's first UFC setback comes after finishing Francis Marshall in his promotional debut in August. He earned a shot in the UFC after a five-fight stint in FAC.

If Dulgarian and his team provide indisputable evidence that Rodriguez cheated, they could potentially appeal the loss, although it remains to be seen if that'll be the case.

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