Darrick Minner has not competed since his technical knockout loss to Nuerdanbieke Shayilan as part of the UFC Vegas 64 mixed martial arts (MMA) event back in late 2022. Partly because of a devastating knee injury that took several months to heal, but mostly because the Nebraskan was pinched for his role in the James Krause betting scandal.
Minner (26-14) was accused of injuring his knee in fight camp, secret information that Krause allegedly leaked to his gambling network. What followed was a sudden (and overtly suspicious) shift in betting lines, extreme enough to catch the attention of U.S. Integrity. Krause and Minner were subsequently cut from UFC and subject to possible sanctions.
Pending investigation.
“This is my livelihood. I gotta eat,” Minner told LytesOut Podcast (transcribed by MMA News). “If the investigation is still going on, a motherf*cker’s gotta eat. You can investigate all you want, you ain’t gonna find sh*t on me. It’s one of those things. Get on with it. My knee is finally ready to go. But it was just like, ‘pending investigation, pending investigation.’ It’s like, what the hell does this mean? Why are you just leaving people out here. I talked to the commission, that was it.”
Minner denies allegations of fight fixing, something that landed this UFC fighter in jail, and has yet to be contacted by either U.S. Integrity or the FBI.
“When it came to the fight, I know that Krause was guiding me to victory,” Minner said. “There was nothing changed from the other fights. He wasn’t acting any different. We were going in there to win. I know that I showed up on fight day to win, took a loss, completely (tore) my ACL, my PCL in the middle of the fight on a main card slot in front of millions of people. I don’t like losing, for one, especially like that. And then you get all this sh*t coming along. It was definitely not a good time.”
Not long after the investigation was launched, UFC overhauled its betting policy then subsequently banned anyone coached by Krause from competing inside the Octagon. As for Minner, now 34, he’s looking to get back into action and “move on with his career” — but is currently stuck in limbo, pending investigation.
“I haven’t talked to the UFC since. The only thing I’ve gotten talked to by the UFC since I left was the email getting cut,” Minner said. “I just talked to the commission. At that point, I was just supposed to get a 90-day suspension and move on with my career. I told them I’m open arms. Whatever they need, I’ll answer them. But I haven’t heard much since. I mean, closed mouths don’t get fed. They can’t keep (me) hostage.”
For more on the Krause betting scandal click here.