Dustin Poirier says UFC should ban gambling

Dustin Poirier, a former lightweight champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, recently spoke to Bloody Elbow, commenting on the unfolding scandal that involves the promotion and the alleged excessive gambling by insiders.

For all intents and purposes, the UFC has not been held up to the same standards as professional leagues such as the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and others have had to meet unfalteringly.

Poirier discussed a hypothetical situation in which he had to pick whom to back, whether he would have wagered on Conor McGregor or Michael Chandler, siding with McGregor in the end. However, he explained that he would not "actually" bet on the fighter, as he is not allowed to gamble on MMA events anymore, specifically the UFC.

This follows the woefully belated ban introduced by the UFC and ordering fighters to stop gambling on any UFC fights. However, fighters are still allowed to gamble on non-UFC promotions and accept endorsements from sports betting companies as a way to monetize their image and likeness.

In his interview, Poirier admitted to having gambled on himself, though, noting that it was no longer available and going further into detail to explain how this was a dangerous precedent that undermined fans’ trust in the competition.

He further praised the UFC’s decision to ban fighters from gambling and added that this had saved him a lot of money. Poirier explained that there is no safe way to allow UFC fighters, or insiders for that matter, to gamble on events. This is simply because these people know a lot about what is going on.

Injuries are only known to the people closest to fighters and attending their gym sessions, while matchmakers and the public hardly know about any of this until it’s too late. He insisted that he had no problem with betting actually not featuring in MMA events, in the sense that people close to the events should not be allowed to anyway.

The UFC has been under a lot of pressure to mend his ways, with the recent suspension of fighter Jeff Molina and a potential FBI-led investigation into the fighter and others.

In December, Ontario and Alberta provinces in Canada said that they are temporarily suspending betting on UFC events at licensed sportsbooks, arguing that until such a tie that the promotion could guarantee the fairness of the events, regulated betting companies would not accept wagers on the outcome of those events.

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