The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on Wednesday extended the suspensions of MMA coach James Krause and fighter Darrick Minner, who were previously suspended after Minner’s UFC fight against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was flagged for suspicious betting activity. The suspensions are pending further investigation and future disciplinary hearings.
Krause and Minner’s NSAC suspensions are currently based on what the commission has deemed a lack of disclosure of a Minner injury on his prefight medical questionnaire prior to the Nov. 5 UFC fight in Las Vegas.
Nevada deputy attorney general Joel Bekker noted at the NSAC monthly meeting Wednesday that both Krause and Minner are also being investigated by other bodies, probes that could lead to “further violations.”
The Minner vs. Nuerdanbieke bout is under scrutiny after a dramatic betting line movement in the hours before the event. Minner lost the bout via first-round TKO after visibly demonstrating that he had an injured left leg during the contest. Multiple sportsbooks reported receiving unusual betting interest on Nuerdanbieke to win by knockout in the first round and for the fight to last fewer than 2.5 rounds. Nuerdanbieke moved from a -220 favorite to a -420 favorite.
The FBI is collecting information and has spoken to people regarding the Minner vs. Nuerdanbieke fight, multiple sources have told ESPN. The UFC, which released Minner and told fighters to disassociate with Krause or not be allowed to participate in promotion events, has stated that the bout is the subject of “multiple ongoing government investigations.”
UFC president Dana White declined to comment on the FBI’s involvement in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto last week, but said the issue of fight fixing is now a “huge concern” for the UFC.
“Now that there’s an investigation and it could be possible that it happened, yeah,” White said.
Just 30 seconds into the Nov. 5 fight at the UFC Apex, Minner threw a left kick to Nuerdanbieke’s body and immediately grimaced and reached for his left leg. Nuerdanbieke closed in, and Minner went for another left body kick before Nuerdanbieke dropped Minner with a knee to the head and finished on the ground with elbows. The TKO stoppage came at 1:07 of the first round.
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, an open MMA bettor who ran a Discord giving out his picks and hosted a gambling podcast. Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis reinstated UFC betting Friday, based on the actions the promotion has taken against Krause and the NSAC’s investigations.
On Oct. 17, three weeks before the Minner-Nuerdanbieke fight, the UFC informed fighters and teams that fighters, coaches and other team members are prohibited from betting on UFC fights moving forward.
“We’ve always told the fighters, as all the gambling stuff started to heat up, stay away from gambling,” White said last week. “Do you know how stupid you have to be to get involved in something like that?”