UFC Vegas 64 Fight Under Investigation After Suspicious Betting
The UFC is working with an independent betting integrity partner to conduct a thorough review.
A featherweight bout is under investigation.
Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke recently fought at this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 64 main card recently fought at this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 64 main card, which abruptly ended in the first round at 1:07 minutes by TKO stoppage.
1️⃣:0️⃣7️⃣ is all it took!
Shayilan Nuerdanbieke gets the finish in round 1 #UFCVegas64 pic.twitter.com/eXqVGELmJj
— UFC (@ufc) November 6, 2022
But the odds on Nuerdanbieke to beat underdog Minner moved dramatically just hours leading up to their fight; a rumor had circulated that Minner was injured, pushing his opponent’s odds to win from –220 to -420.
Large bets were then put on Nuerdanbieke to win by knockout in the first round, and for the fight to not go the distance.
This compelled some sportsbooks to take the fight off the board, according to analysis by U.S. Integrity.
Thirty seconds into the bout, Minner threw a left kick to Nuerdanbieke’s body and immediately reached for his left leg as if he had gotten injured. Nuerdanbieke took advantage and dropped Minner with a kee to the head. He finished the fight on the ground with elbows.
Even after the odds moved, the betting didn’t stop, which increased suspicions for some bookermakers and U.S. Integrity.
Matthew Holt, president of U.S. Integrity, said he cannot reveal details during the ongoing investigation, but ensures that by sending a couple of hours before the fight, they might “prevent” more suspicious betting from happened.
In a statement on Monday, the UFC said:
“Like many professional sports organizations, UFC works with an independent betting integrity service to monitor wagering activity on our events,” the UFC statement read. “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.”
The investigation comes just weeks after the UFC announced that fighters and their teams were prohibited from betting on UFC fights.