Darrick Minner just wants to get this whole UFC betting scandal over with.
Suspicious Betting Activity In Minner’s Last Fight
The former UFC featherweight fighter was cut from the promotion in 2022 for his alleged involvement in “fight fixing” from a bout with Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. Somehow cleared by the commission, Minner went into the Octagon with a preexisting knee injury that led to even more injuries in a first-round TKO loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.
There was suspicious betting activity on the featherweight fight with Nuerdanbieke moving to a bigger betting favorite on fight night with fingers pointed at Minner’s coach and gambling “wizard” James Krause for the cause. The UFC veteran had a paid Discord server, offering UFC picks to his subscribers, with some believing the Nuerdanbieke fight was an inside job, seeing as though Minner was going into the fight injured and his chances were slim.
Initial Reaction
Even so, Minner says he went into the fight to win and believed Krause was with him all the way as a coach. Minner claims to have had no idea about the betting lines changing before the fight and relives when the media firestorm of the controversial scandal first came out.
“I just had surgery. I don’t know what’s going on,” Minner said on LytesOut MMA History Podcast. “I know if I showed up on fight day to win and I take a loss, only that I completely tear my ACL and my PCL in the middle of the fight and in front of main card slot, in front of millions of people. That’s what I know. I don’t like losing for one and especially like that, and then you got all this s*** coming along, it was definitely a not a good time.
“For sure,” Minner said, when asked if he was depressed. “I mean, who wouldn’t? Who wouldn’t? I mean, was I depressed? Yeah. I mean, you’re definitely that, but I had a little baby at home that I was able to, you know, I had my daughter’s home. I was able to be with them and that was the only thing that gets a person, you just ignore all the s*** and find joy in your children, and that’s all you can do, you know?
Crickets From The UFC & FBI
The FBI has a “pending investigation” regarding the suspicious betting activity in UFC with Krause, Minner and Glory MMA teammate Jeff Molina being persons of interest. However, Minner claims to not have heard anything from the FBI, government or even the UFC regarding questions on the matter.
“Nobody’s really talked to it much. My knee is finally ready to go and like we’re ready, like figuring it out. But it was just like pending investigation. Pending investigation. But it’s like, what the hell does this mean? Like why are you just leaving people out here?”
Minner Just Talked To The Commission Since Then – That’s About It
Minner says the only communication he’s had with the UFC is getting the notice that he was cut from the roster, with no additional follow-up. The American says he did speak with the Nevada State Athletic Commission about his knee injury he went into the fight and why he threw a switch kick that costed him the win against Nuerdanbieke.
“I talked to the commission. That’s about it. Just pretty much we went over the injury, went over how it happened, how I felt, why I threw the kick, and pretty much all that scenario. Well go watch his fight with Steven Garcia,” Minner said, when asked why he threw the kick. “The next fight that he has and tell me what he gets hit by and what he gets dropped by. And you’ll see the reason that I threw a switch kick to the body is because his next fight, he gets dropped and finished with the switch kick to the body and yeah, how crazy is that?”
Minner: ‘Let’s get it over with’
Coming up a year and a half since his last fight took place and his knee back to normal, Darrick Minner is ready to clear his name so he can fight again: “Let’s get it over with so that we can release a statement saying, hey, here we go. Let’s go about our lives…. I’m just ready to get freaking get on with it. Like, I’m just ready to fight. So whatever that takes, that’s what I’m ready to do. All the other s*** can just stay in the past and do whatever it’s gotta do and you know, that’s it.”
Reaching out to his coach James Krause after all hell broke loose, Minner says Krause told him “He had nothing to do” with the suspicious betting activity in his last UFC fight.
Only time will tell if we get answers from the long, pending investigation.
