Latest news with #Minner
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jeff Molina tells all about his side of the biggest betting scandal in UFC history
Jeff Molina (center left) and James Krause (center right) have been at the center of the UFC's biggest betting scandal since 2022. (Al Powers/Zuffa LLC) The fallout from the 2022 UFC betting scandal continues to ripple across the combat sports world. Jeff Molina and Darrick Minner were the two UFC fighters most connected to the allegations against James Krause regarding irregular betting activities — both Molina and Minner trained under Krause's Glory Kickboxing & Fitness banner and employed Krause as their head coach. Minner became the target of controversy when betting lines drastically changed the day of his fight against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in 2022; Minner lost in 67 seconds and was suspended afterward for failing to disclose a torn ACL. Advertisement Molina, 27, spoke on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" for the first time in more than a year, breaking his silence about the saga that resulted in the former UFC flyweight contender receiving a three-year suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission for placing a wager on the Minner fight. Molina recalled quitting his job at T-Mobile after his successful UFC debut win in 2021, which led him to bet on MMA for the first time. He said it started with joining a WhatsApp group chat of four to five people, led by Krause, that eventually grew into a popular Discord server. Molina insisted that he never bet on his own fights, but thought about it for his sophomore UFC outing. He did, however, bet on teammates' fights sometimes, and even against them, as he ultimately did with Minner. "You only get paid if you fight, right?" Molina said. "And a lot of fighters do this, but the UFC — obviously, we don't have insurance — will cover anything [a fighter has injured] post-fight. So many fighters go into fights injured because of this. I've never gone into a fight healthy. Then it's kind of a joke among fighters that after the fight, they ask you, 'Hey, what hurts?' And you say, 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Everything hurts.' Even Dr. [Jeffrey] Davidson with the UFC, he'll joke about it like, 'Oh yeah, this hurts?' Knowing it doesn't, but we're going to get it checked out. Advertisement "So knowing Minner's mindset that eventually he's going to go through with the fight, I knew it was going to be a kill-or-be-killed type thing," Molina continued. "It wasn't crazy money. It wasn't anything outside the ordinary that I wasn't already doing at any prior event. I had money on the rest of the card, probably $2,000 in total on wagers on that card. And two weeks prior to that event, it was completely fine [and legal] to bet. Then we got an email, like, 'Hey, UFC athletes are no longer allowed to wager on fights.' And I made the mistake of saying, 'Hey, this is an email. How serious are these guys? How serious is this?' This is a way of me making money on the side. Turns out, they were very serious." Molina said he bet $350 on Minner to lose the fight and found out about the injury three weeks earlier when he heard Minner scream in agony at the gym after suffering his injury. Molina said he didn't know if Minner would still compete and he doesn't believe his teammate went into fight night planning to lose. Regarding the massive betting line shift against Minner at the eleventh hour, Molina believes it had to have come from people — or a person — within the Glory gym leaking word of Minner's injury. Advertisement "Obviously, what followed, and even the betting line going crazy and out of proportion, made it look like something sketchy was going on, and that resulted in my suspension," Molina said. "I think for a line to be that manipulated, a crazy amount — like, millions and millions and millions of dollars would have to come in to change a line. That's the only explanation I can think of how a line would move that drastically. "Obviously if the line never moved, nothing would have came from this. Fighters are still actively wagering on fights. They tweet about it all the time. I f***ed up. I should have stopped when the UFC said stop. It wasn't worth the f***ing $1,000 I won that night on a card." Advertisement Minner's suspension expired this past March, but Molina is still waiting for his own suspension to lift on Nov. 5, 2025. Molina said UFC officials made it clear that he will be unable to compete in the promotion moving forward, thus he requested his release and on Tuesday revealed his signing with BKFC. Krause, meanwhile, remains under investigation and is essentially exiled from the sport, unable to coach fighters contracted by the UFC. Molina confirmed that Krause has shifted his focus to the real estate business, which Krause began before the scandal and while he was still an active UFC fighter. Molina claimed that Krause would never talk about Glory athletes in the group's private channels when they were fighting. He does believe Krause probably bet on his own fighters, though never to lose. Ultimately, Molina still doesn't know how the commissions found out he bet on the Minner fight. Advertisement "If you know James Krause, he's one hell of a coach, man," Molina said. "That's what sucks with all this. His legacy has forever been tarnished, but ask any fighter that's been trained under James, I think he would have been the first Hall of Famer coach. He was that f***king good. Obviously, he's a mastermind of the sport and could break down fights very well. "It started with just making a couple extra $100 a month, which helped for a guy that wasn't working a job and training full time." Hear much more from Molina on the UFC's 2022 betting scandal and the saga of the past three years in his candid and wide-ranging interview on "The Ariel Helwani Show" above.
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Two UFC fighters banned amid illegal betting scandal
Former UFC fighters Jeff Molina and Darrick Minner have been banned by the Nevada Athletic 34, received a 29-month suspension for not disclosing a "serious injury" he received before a UFC fight on 5 November, 27, has been suspended for three years for placing a significant bet on Minner's bout and failing to disclose his team-mate's Nevada Athletic Commission say Molina admitted to the failed to reveal his knee injury on a pre-fight medical questionnaire and was quickly finished by Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in round featherweight bout was flagged by US Integrity as being the subject of suspicious betting and has sparked an investigation into an illegal gambling scheme involving UFC fighters and a Molina's suspension ends on 5 November, 2025 while Minner can return to fighting on 26 March, 2025. Both Molina and Minner trained in the past with former UFC fighter turned coach James is under investigation for allegedly being involved with an illegal betting scheme and the UFC has barred fighters from training at his gym and using him as a American has not made any public comment on the allegations and is currently suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UFC vets Jeff Molina, Darrick Minner get multi-year suspensions for roles in James Krause betting scandal
The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) held a disciplinary hearing Tuesday to determine the fates of temporarily suspended UFC veterans Jeff Molina and Darrick Minner in the James Krause betting scandal. At the hearing, Minner, 34, received a 29-month suspension retroactive to Nov. 5, 2022, the date of his last fight. The suspension terminates on March 26, 2025, and Minner must pay a $235 fine. Molina, 27, received a 36-month suspension retroactive to June 4, 2022, the date of his last fight. His suspension also ends on Nov. 5, 2025, and he will pay a $235 fine. Molina and Minner had been temporarily suspended for three years until Tuesday's hearing. The fighters were suspected of being involved in the betting scandal surrounding their former Glory MMA & Fitness head coach and fellow UFC veteran, Krause. All three were suspended in December 2022 after Krause came under investigation for alleged betting irregularities; specifically, when it came to Krause's fighters, Molina and Minner, betting odds shifted drastically prior to Minner's last UFC fights in 2022. Minner's loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was a massive red flag at UFC Vegas 64 in November of that year. Before the event began, Minner became an enormous underdog and was subsequently finished with strikes in 67 seconds. Minner and Krause were initially suspended for their failure to report a "serious knee injury" before the fight, stated the NAC. Minner specifically responded to his pre-fight examination by checking off "no" to a question regarding whether or not he'd had any injuries to his knees, elbows, ankles, hands or feet that needed examination. Minner was released from the UFC after his loss. On the other hand, Molina won his bout against Zhalgas Zhumagulov via split decision in June. After the Minner incident, however, he was identified as a person of interest for non-disclosure of an injury and having "direct knowledge of serious injury" regarding Minner. Instead of informing the commission, Molina placed bets with a gaming entity on the outcome of Minner's fight. Krause, 38, has since resurfaced to proclaim he's more than $5 million in debt. The longtime UFC veteran has turned his focus toward the real estate world since being exiled from fighting.
USA Today
20-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC gambling probe: Jeff Molina, Darrick Minner set for Nevada disciplinary hearings
Two fighters embroiled by the investigations into potential illegal wagering on UFC fights will go before the Nevada Athletic Commission after more than two years on temporary suspension. UFC flyweight Jeff Molina and former UFC featherweight Darrick Minner are set for disciplinary hearings next Tuesday in Las Vegas, according to the NAC. No further details were revealed, but typically hearings of this nature result in the announcement of sanctions, including suspensions or fines. Molina has been suspended since January 2023 for what the commission deemed 'substantial' involvement in the 'gaming scheme' involving coach James Krause. Minner, who was one-half of the bout that sparked investigations due to unusual betting line movements, was suspended in December 2022 for what the commission said was failure to disclose an injury. Neither fighter has competed since Minner's quick November 2022 loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke was flagged due to suspicious betting line movement. Minner appeared to quickly be hindered by a leg injury before he was finished by Nuerdanbieke strikes. Shortly after the bout, U.S. Integrity launched an investigation and several gaming commissions disallowed UFC fights from being bet on. Weeks after the bout, Krause was pulled from cornering another one of his fighters, Miles Johns, in the UFC. Days later, the UFC announced it was barring its athletes from training with Krause or at his gym. Krause was then suspended by the NAC. UFC CEO Dana White, who had initially brushed off the issue, revealed things were more serious than he initially believed and added the FBI was involved in the investigation. 'Do you know what the outcome of this is? Like, if I penalize them, you get cut,' White said at the time. 'They're gonna go to f*cking federal prison. Federal. F*cking. Prison. If you're that f*cking stupid and somebody else wants to do it, knock yourself out. There's not enough money in it to ruin your life and, not go to jail, go to federal prison.' According to a lengthy report by ESPN, Krause worked as an agent for offline sportsbook where individuals could place bets through him. Krause offered a line of credit and referral kickbacks. Minner was released by the UFC in December 2022. In a June 2024 interview with MMA History Podcast, Minner claimed he had not been contacted by any investigative body except the NAC. Krause largely remained out of the public eye since the investigation launched, though recently began posting real estate advice on his Facebook page. He remains suspended by the NAC.
