Breaking: UFC announces blanket ban on any fighter in the promotion being coached by James Krause, in light of his betting fiasco


Breaking: UFC announces blanket ban on any fighter in the promotion being coached by James Krause, in light of his betting fiasco

James Krause and Brandon Moreno (L and R); Dana White [Image Source - En Cancha MX and Business Insider]

James Krause finds himself in an incredibly tough spot right about now – he is, by far, the most infamous man in the whole MMA world at the moment, and by a margin. And, now, it seems like his suspected actions won’t just affect himself, but also the fighters who are coached by him or fight out of his gym.

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To put things in short, surrounding a bout at UFC Fight Night 214, which took place on the 6th of November, suspicious activity was alleged by the UFC when Darrick Minner, a fighter coached by Krause, went down with an injury in the very first round of his fight against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. The injury didn’t create suspicion – what did, is that prior to the fight, gambling companies found on record, suspicious line activity.

In other words, it is alleged that some betters already knew of Minner’s injury going into the fight (which, obviously, was not common knowledge). Now, the UFC has taken firm action into disassociating with James Krause. In a memo released by UFC CFO Hunter Campbell (posted to Twitter by Ariel Helwani), the company put forward the new guidelines, regarding the developing betting scandal.

The memo read, “UFC has since advised respective managers working with impacted fighters, that effective immediately, fighters who choose to continue to be coached by Krause or who continue to train in his gym, will not be permitted to participate in UFC events…” What this effectively does, is alienate fighters that train under him, like former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, who will either have to stick up for his coach or find a new gym.

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Related- Trainer James Krause gets banned from cornering Miles Johns at UFC Vegas 65 for allegedly being involved in a betting scandal

Dana White earlier denied any nefarious activity preceding the Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke bout

Dana White [Image Source - The Econimic Times]
Dana White [Image Source – The Economic Times]

Despite the odds being stacked against Krause’s favor in a matter that will, for sure, become a precedent setter in coming years, Dana White had earlier gone on the record to deny any evidence of illegal activity being found.

Speaking to the press, he said, “There’s absolutely, zero proof that anybody that was involved, bet on it. There were signs that something was going on, but there’s no proof that anybody did anything wrong… The bottom line is you’re never going to be able to bet enough money to win, it’s not worth the risk.

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This statement of his was in line with the UFC’s new betting policy – that, no fighter can bet on their own bouts. That, of course, was in a way done to safeguard fighters’ financial interests and also avoid any sort of insider fixing. However, given the James Krause drama, Ontario has completely banned any sort of betting on UFC events, citing “integrity concerns”. There is a lot left to unfold – stay tuned for updates.

Also Read- Ontario Commission bans betting on UFC events owing to concerns over “integrity requirements” after UFC Vegas 64 shenanigans