UFC Vegas 64 fight under investigation after suspicious betting

A UFC featherweight fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke is under investigation after suspicious betting.

Minner (26-14 MMA) and Nuerdanbieke (39-10 MMA) collided on the main card of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 64 event. The result was a quick first-round TKO victory for the 28-year-old Chinese fighter.

Now, less than twenty-four hours later, ESPN is reporting that the fight is being investigated by a U.S.-based betting integrity firm after several sportsbooks in multiple states reported suspicious wagering on the featherweight contest.

According to the report, odds on Shayilan Neurdanbieke defeating the underdog in Darrick Minner moved dramatically in the hours leading up to their UFC Vegas 64 fight. It seems bettors were convinced that not only the Chinese fighter would win, but he would do so in the first-round. Large bets were placed on Neurdanbieke to win by knockout in the opening round and for the fight not to go the distance.

The fight itself lasted just over a minute. Darrick Minner appeared to injure his leg after throwing a body kick and Nuerdanbieke promptly moved in for the finish. After landing a big knee, Shayilan finished the fight with some ground and pound elbows.

1️⃣:0️⃣7️⃣ is all it took!

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke gets the finish in round 1 #UFCVegas64 pic.twitter.com/eXqVGELmJj

— UFC (@ufc) November 6, 2022

Sportsbooks were immediately suspicious of the odd betting activity in the lead-up to the fight and contacted U.S. Integrity. USI proceeded to conduct a thorough analysis while alerting state gaming regulators and other sportsbook clients of the situation. Despite the odds on Nuerdanbieke moving to significantly less-attractive prices, the betting did not stop and just continued to escalate.

Matthew Holt, president of U.S. Integrity, gave the following statement to ESPN:

“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 said. “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.”

It is worth noting that Darrick Minner is coached by James Krause, a retired UFC fighter and known sports bettor, who hosts the 1% Club podcast and a popular Discord channel which features his betting tips. Krause did not respond to a request for comment from ESPN.

The news comes less than a month after the UFC made changes to their Code of Conduct, which banned fighters and their teams from betting on UFC fights.

BJPENN will keep you updated as more details on the investigation become available.