After experiencing a gambling controversy with one of its trainers and fighters, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced last week they were taking steps to strengthen its stance on sports betting.
Some of the changes include clarifying its code of conduct policy and hiring a sports wagering monitoring firm.
What triggered the UFC to act was the November 5 fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. In that bout, Minner and his coach, James Krause, failed to report an injury Minner had in the pre-fight questionnaire.
As a result, bets started coming in heavily on both Nuerdanbieke to win and the fight to go less than 2.5 rounds. Sportsbooks alerted the UFC about the suspicious betting patterns. It has been reported by ESPN that the FBI has been investigating the fight.
Krause had boasted that he routinely bet on MMA fights. He also worked for an offshore betting site and had a podcast on betting. Krause and Minner have been suspended by both the UFC and the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The UFC said they have added stricter language to warn fighters, trainers and others within the UFC about betting on the sport.
UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell recently provided a memo to fighters and teams saying that betting is strictly prohibited. “UFC Insiders” and “other individuals affiliated with the athletes or the UFC, are prohibited from wagering on UFC fights,” the memo read.
Campbell added that the onus was on anyone who violated the rule to report their actions to the UFC.
The second move was to hire U.S. Integrity, a sports betting monitoring site. The company, based in Las Vegas, was the first agency contacted to investigate the Minner fight.
The UFC said in a statement that U.S. Integrity was an agency “capable of identifying and analyzing unusual wagering activity as indicative of possible integrity concern.”
The new policy is an attempt to win back the public’s confidence and it appears to be working with sportsbooks in Canada. Sportsbooks had suspended taking bets in both the provinces of Alberta and Ontario in December.
Alberta rescinded the ban last month, but Ontario kept it in place until last week. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) said they were satisfied with the UFC’s commitment to tighten its policy on gambling and lifted the ban.
Said Tom Mungham, registrar and CEO of AGCO, in a statement: “The AGCO is committed to protecting Ontario players and the integrity of its betting market. With the legalization of single event betting last year, the AGCO created strong new rules to protect bettors in Ontario. We are pleased these rules are already working to strengthen the integrity of sports betting in Ontario and, as a result, of UFC competitions around the world.”
UFC is not a huge draw for sportsbooks north of the border. In terms of volume it ranks behind the big four sports, as well as soccer, tennis and golf.
