Dana White: Fight fixing ‘huge concern’ for UFC amid investigations

Marc Raimondi, ESPN

Fight fixing is now a “huge concern” for the UFC amid several investigations into suspicious betting activity around a bout last month, UFC president Dana White told ESPN.

A Nov. 5 UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke is under scrutiny after a dramatic betting line movement in the hours before the event. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has suspended both Minner and his coach, James Krause, who ran an MMA betting Discord page and podcast, pending its investigations.

When asked by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in an interview Thursday whether fight fixing is a concern, White said: “Huge concern. … Now that there’s an investigation and it could be possible that it happened, yeah.”

The FBI is collecting information and has spoken to people regarding the Minner vs. Nuerdanbieke fight, multiple sources told ESPN. White declined to comment on the possibility of FBI involvement.

“There’s an investigation going on,” he said. “I can’t talk about any of this stuff. It’s crazy.”

The UFC previously said it has been cooperating “with multiple ongoing government investigations” into the fight.

Last week, the promotion announced that any fighter who continued to train under Krause at Glory MMA in Missouri would not be allowed to participate in UFC events while the probes are ongoing. The UFC released Minner on Dec. 2, the day it announced its sanctions against Krause.

Since the Minner-Nuerdanbieke fight, Canadian provinces Ontario and Alberta banned betting on UFC fights and the state of New Jersey banned betting on bouts involving Krause. Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis reinstated UFC betting Friday, based on the actions the promotion has taken against Krause and the NSAC’s investigations.

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