Dana White attends a news conference for the bout between boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor at the KA Theatre at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on August 23, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather and McGregor will meet in a super welterweight boxing match at T-Mobile Arena on August 26 in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Dana White has voiced his concern over ongoing betting scandal with James Krause at the helm of it all.
The investigation into betting that involves the UFC and fighter-turned-coach James Krause is one of the most significant stories to break in the world of MMA this year.
After competing for the promotion in a total of 13 bouts, Krause transitioned his attention to coaching and quickly established himself as one of the best in the industry. However, when abnormal betting activity was discovered for one of his fighter’s bouts in November, his name became the centre of attention of a massive scandal. This activity was discovered in one of his fighter’s bouts.
The ongoing investigation has already had significant repercussions, which are just the beginning. Gaming regulators in Canada have stopped taking action on bets placed on UFC fights, Krause and his fighters have been banned from the UFC, and other promotions are staying away from the coach and his stable.
An investigation is currently being conducted into a fight that took place on November 5 between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke at UFC Fight Night 214. A number of sportsbooks reported receiving “unusual betting interest” on Nuerdanbieke winning via first-round knockout, in addition to the fight lasting fewer than 2.5 rounds, just hours before the fight took place.
The betting favourite, Nuerdanbieke, knocked out Minner in the first round via technical knockout in 1 minute and 7 seconds.
Since then, both Minner and his coach, James Krause, have been placed on indefinite suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission pending the results of multiple investigations. In addition, the UFC decided to release Minner and made an announcement that any fighter who remains under Krause’s tutelage will be barred from competing in UFC events as long as the investigations are still ongoing.
Dana White weighed in on the matter in a recent interview with ESPN:
“In every sport, somebody thinks they’re smarter than everybody else when really they’re the dumbest guy in the room. And you will get caught — you will get caught and you will go to prison. It is what it is. If you’re that dumb and you’re willing to take that risk for money. Ruin your life for money. We can tell people until we’re blue in the face. Same thing as steroids, performance-enhancing drugs. ‘Don’t do it, USADA is testing, you’re gonna get caught.’ But this is a whole other level. If you’re that stupid, have fun in prison.”
A serious shoulder injury forced UFC light heavyweight champion, Jiri Prochazka, to relinquish his title, UFC president Dana White told ESPN. The 30-year-old Prochazka (29-3-1) was supposed to defend his title against the 24-year-old Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 on December 10 in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, he posted to Instagram that he was giving up the title because he had injured his shoulder while training for the Teixeira fight. Prochazka has said he needs surgery and will be out for at least six months, with his estimated time of recovery exceeding a year.
Dana White recently discussed the incident in a podcast with Paddy Pimblett, but few specifics have been made public until now. He claims it occurred while Prochazka’s coaches were attempting a do-it-yourself repair of the injured shoulder in the gym.
“That night when it all went down and we had our doctor look at him, the doctor literally said in all the years at the UFC, this is the worst shoulder injury we’ve ever seen. It’s pretty nasty and him being the f**ing savage that he is, he still wanted to fight. He said, ‘I could do it…’ No. You can’t fight, kid. “What happened was, it popped out and he had some guys there at the gym (who tried to put it back in). And they f—ng ripped the shit out of it and destroyed his shoulder.”
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