UFC Fight Under Investigation Over Suspicious Betting Patterns

A UFC fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke held Saturday in Las Vegas is being investigated by a betting integrity firm after sportsbooks in multiple states claimed there was “suspicious wagering” on the fight, per ESPN.

The fight ended 1:07 into in the first round with Nuerdanbieke defeating Minner by TKO.

The fact that information regarding Minner’s status possibly was leaked ahead of the UFC Fight Night match raised suspicions. Just hours before the fight began, it was rumored that Minner was injured, and his odds increased from -220 to -420, according to ESPN.

Although Minner’s odds were increasing, so many bets were placed for a first-round knockout by Nuerdanbieke, and for the fight to last less than 2.5 rounds, that some sportsbooks took the fight off the board.

The firm U.S. Integrity, a firm that works with sportsbooks and regulators to monitor the betting market, was brought into the fold amid the suspicious betting activity. U.S. Integrity investigated the matter and altered clients to the irregular betting pattern.

“Our goal as always is to notify the industry of any potential nefarious, abnormal or suspicious activity as soon as possible, so they can take action as quickly as possible,” U.S. Integrity president Matthew Holt told ESPN. “In this case, we hope that by [alerting clients] a couple hours before the fight started, we may have helped prevent some more suspicious bets from getting through.”

The UFC issued a statement in regard to the ongoing investigation.

“Like many professional sports organizations, UFC works with an independent betting integrity service to monitor wagering activity on our events,” the UFC statement said. “Our betting integrity partner, Don Best Sports, a leading global supplier of real-time betting data for North American sporting events, will conduct a thorough review of the facts and report its findings. At this time, we have no reason to believe either of the athletes involved in the bout, or anyone associated with their teams, behaved in an unethical or irresponsible manner.”