On Friday, 2 December, the combat sports’ Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced that the Nevada State Athletic Commission had suspended coach James Krause’s licence and that fighter Darrick Minner had been released from the promotion. 

This is in the midst of an ongoing investigation into betting irregularities tied to Krause and his athletes. 

“Along with the safety and health of its fighters, UFC believes there is no more important component of professional mixed martial arts than the integrity of the sport,” said the UFC statement. 

Krause is suspected of having undermined the integrity of the sport by partaking in insider betting, despite the UFC recently updating their fighter Code of Conduct to prohibit athletes and their teams from wagering on any UFC fights. 

The Darrick Minner fight

On 6 November, Minner, one of Krause’s Glory MMA and Fitness Gym athletes, fought against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke at UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos. 

Everything seemed normal during the walkouts. The commentary team hyped up Minner’s submission skills. There was no indication that an injury was discussed in the fighter meetings prior to the fight. 

In the first 30 seconds of the bout, Minner threw a body kick with his left leg. After planting his leg back on the mat, Minner immediately reached for it and was clearly in pain. 

Backing away towards the fence, Minner threw another left body kick that had no effect on his opponent. After a flying knee, a series of punches and a flurry of elbows, Nuerdanbieke scored the TKO victory after just over a minute. 

The commentary team attempted to justify Minner’s knee injury, saying that it most likely occurred after his first body kick attempt. 

“You never want to see an injury right off the bat … but you have to look at what happened and know that Shayilan created that,” said commentator Dominick Cruz.

However, coach James Krause has since admitted that Minner was injured going into the fight. 

“His knee was jacked going into the fight, but gotta pay the bills. Is what it is, I suppose,” the coach wrote on a Discord channel. 

In this UFC handout, Darrick Minner punches Charles Rosa in a featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on 20 February 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo: Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Irregular betting

Shortly prior to the fight, the betting odds on Nuerdanbieke shifted dramatically. He was already favoured to win the bout, but in the hours leading up to the fight his odds to win moved from -220 to -420. 

With odds of -220, bettors would win $100 for every $220 wagered. At odds of -420, a bettor would need to wager $420 to get the same $100 profit – a clear indication that Nuerdanbieke was tremendously more favoured in such a short span of time. 

The odds on Minner moved in the opposite direction. Already a +170 underdog ($170 profit for every $100 wagered) just over a week before the fight, he entered the octagon as a +330 underdog ($330 profit for every $100 wagered), with most of the line activity taking place just hours before the bout. 

However, not only were bettors expecting Nuerdanbieke to win, but bets were poured on the favourite to win by first round knockout. This prompted some sportsbooks to remove the fight from their books. 

Regulators in Ontario and Alberta, Canada, suspended gambling on UFC events altogether after the fight. 

The suspicious betting activity is now being investigated by a US-based betting integrity firm.  

Krause, a former fighter himself, is known to run a betting syndicate where bettors pay him for his advice. The group is called the “1% club”. While this itself does not constitute insider betting, it raises further suspicions about the astronomically shifting odds briefly before the fight.  

In this handout image provided by UFC, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke of China punches Josh Culibao of Australia in their featherweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on 22 May 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo: Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The fallout

Amidst the ongoing investigation, UFC released Minner from the promotion.  

Along with having his coaching licence suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Krause has been virtually banned from the UFC. 

The promotion released a statement saying that any fighters training under Krause will need to find a new team should they wish to compete in the UFC. 

“Effective immediately, fighters who choose to continue to be coached by Krause or who continue to train in his gym, will not be permitted to participate in UFC events pending the outcome of the aforementioned government investigations.” 

One athlete this will severely impact is Brandon Moreno, former UFC flyweight champion and current interim champion in the same division. 

Moreno is scheduled to have his quadrilogy fight with current flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo in January 2023, to unify their respective belts. 

Having to find a new team with a major fight looming will no doubt impact Moreno, especially given the success “The Assassin Baby” has found working with Krause. DM