The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) wants to make sure there is transparency in the sport, and announced that it would ban its fighters from wagering on all UFC fights. The ban includes promotions that they themselves are not participating in.
The move came after UFC officials held discussions with gaming regulators. The decision was first reported by Ariel Helwani.
In his story he wrote that UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell announced the change to the organization’s Athlete Conduct Policy. The ban on sports wagering will also extend to a fighter’s coaches, managers, and staff, and it includes those “with access to non-public information regarding participants in any MMA match.”
Campbell said the decision came as “clear direction that we have received from regulators responsible for the regulated sports betting industry in the United States.”
He did add that there is no issue with fighters signing sponsorship agreements with sports wagering companies as long as it is done, “in accordance with applicable law.”
Another area that was cleared up was fighters being paid by sports betting sponsors for their picks on fights. That is a practice that many fighters had done in the past, using sites like Instagram and Twitter to disclose who they bet on in a particular fight.
The most notable of those public bets was MMA fighter Justin Jaynes showing a bet slip of $25,000 to beat Charles Rosa in UFC Vegas 30. He lost in a split decision.
Many states show in their reports how much is bet on MMA fights. Colorado reported $3.7 million in handle for that sport in August. The state has collected nearly $75 million in sports bets on MMA since it was legalized in May 2020.
