Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) extended the suspensions of former UFC fighter Darrick Minner and head coach James Krause on Wednesday as part of a continued investigation into the suspicious betting activity surrounding Minner’s first-round technical knockout loss at the UFC Vegas 64 event back in early November.
Just hours before the show, the pre-fight betting line saw a colossal shift in favor of opponent Shayilan Nuerdanbieke to win by first-round knockout. In addition, bettors continued to invest in “Wolverine” — who ballooned to a -450 betting favorite — even after the dramatic line shift made it financially unreasonable to do so.
Minner went on to blow out his knee less than a minute into the bout leading to speculation the Nebraskan entered the fight injured — something not uncommon these days — and quickly folded once Nuerdanbieke landed anything of substance. Krause, an unapologetic MMA bettor with a loyal following, now has some hard questions to answer.
“Respondent [James Krause] allegedly allowed Mr. Minner to submit a medical questionnaire dated Nov. 1, 2022 and confirmed statement was true and accurate to a representative of the commission on Nov. 4, 2022,” Nevada State Deputy Attorney General Joel Bekke said at today’s hearing (via MMA Fighting). “It is alleged respondent knew or should have known of a substantial injury that required medical attention and reported to the commission sustained by Mr. Minner and either allowed or encouraged Mr. Minner to fail to report [the injury]. Further, there are ongoing investigations regarding events stemming from and related to that Nov. 5 bout that are yet to be concluded and may bring to light further violations.”
UFC officials hastily cut Minner from the featherweight roster and handed down a promotion-wide ban on gambling, then later informed fighters coached by Krause they would be prohibited from competing. In attempt to prevent any further collateral damage, Krause resigned from his post at GLORY MMA and sold his remaining ownership stake.
In the wake of the betting scandal, which has since drawn the attention of federal investigators, multiple sportsbooks have put a temporary block on select UFC fights until this mess is cleaned up. That said, not everyone is ready to abandon the sinking ship and still insist justice will be served once all the relevant facts are released.
Expect more on this still-developing story in the coming weeks, if not days.