ESPN: UFC fighter Jeff Molina reportedly suspended

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is one of the most prominent MMA promotions. Yet, it’s also one of the most targeted in a recent string of betting scandals and questionable practices by insiders.

Following the scandal involving coach James Krause and his fighters over "suspicious betting patterns," a new fighter may now have been denied the right to fight. Jeff Molina is said to have been issued a suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), as per an update made by mixedmartialarts.com and cited by ESPN.com.

Not much is immediately clear as the NSAC is not due to meet until next year, ESPN explained. The publication said that a source who had access to the Association of Boxing Commission and Combative Sports internal database confirmed the suspension but said that there was no reason listed.

This will be elaborated on at the upcoming meeting early next year. Molina had to withdraw from a fight with Jimmy Flick at UFC Fight Night which will be held on January 14. Molina is also part of coach Krause’s gym, with fellow fighter Darrick Minner currently also suspended.

Coach Krause’s case became so prominent that it not only prompted the NSAC to step in but also sent scares across betting markets. As a result, Ontario and Alberta in Canada ordered licensed sportsbooks to stop offering betting options for UFC events.

Molina may be involved in a much bigger case, though, as ESPN now claims that the fighter is part of an investigation involving several government agencies, including the FBI. Neither NSAC nor Molina has commented on the matter and the publicly available information is mostly based on the original report by ESPN.

The UFC has also been criticized for how it had set up its gambling policies. While sports gambling has been legal in the United States for what is now five years, the promotion did very little to ensure the integrity of the sports vis-à-vis potential gambling offenses. The organization only passed an amendment on October 17, 2022, which prohibited fighters and their family members from gambling.

However, fears lingered that insiders are still able to access sensitive information and make wagers. The Krause scandal made regulators and sportsbooks reluctant to offer markets on UFC events. Other major leagues in the United States have been outright hardliners on sports betting by their members of staff, insiders and players, or their friends and families.

Just this week, the National Football League confirmed the suspension of New York Jets’ wide receivers coach Miles Austin who is said to have gambled on non-NFL and non-collegiate football and will now be suspended for at least one year. Austin is appealing the suspension.

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