UFC Fight Under Investigation for Suspicious Betting

Multiple sportsbooks observed a pattern of unusual betting activities tied to a UFC bout that took place Saturday night.  The match between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke ended abruptly during the first round.

David Purdum and Marc Raimondi of ESPN report that the odds on favorite Nuerdanbieke beating underdog Minner shifted dramatically in the hours leading up to their Vegas fight.  Money specifically poured in on Nuerdanbieke winning by knockout in the first round and the fight lasting under 2.5 rounds.

Some sportsbooks pulled odds on the fight as a result.

“We noticed some dramatic movement,” South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal.

One of the sharpest books in the industry, Circa Sports, also reported unusual betting activity.

“We did see a flood of action come in on all of the above,” Circa Sports UFC oddsmaker and risk supervisor Nick Kalikas told the LVRJ. “We did lose on the fight, but we’ve taken bigger losses under normal circumstances, too.”

Matthew Holt, president of U.S. Integrity, was unable to share with ESPN any details of the probe.

"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," Holt told ESPN. "In this case, we hope that by sending a couple hours before the fight started, we may have helped prevent some more suspicious bets from getting through."

The UFC has also issued a statement in regard to the matter.

“Like many professional sports organizations, UFC works with an independent betting integrity service to monitor wagering activity on our events,” the UFC’s 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.”

Nuerdanbieke is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division.  In 49 fights, he has 39 wins.  Only one of those was by knockout prior to Saturday night's bout.

Darrick Minner is an American MMA fighter in the Featherweight division of the UFC.  He has 26 wins in 40 fights.

- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com