Nearly three years after former UFC flyweight Jeff Molina was suspended pending an investigation over betting irregularities involving a teammate, the James Krause student has been handed an official punishment by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Way back in November 2022, Molina’s teammate Darrick Minner lost to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via first round TKO. Following the fight, sportsbooks reported that there had been suspicious activity on the fight’s line, with a ton of money coming in on Nuerdanbieke to win. Betting on the fight was shut down and an investigation started … which led to a spotlight being put on Minner’s coach James Krause.
Krause ran a paid betting picks Discord called The 1% Club, and Molina was very active on it. He even promoted the service by saying “[James Krause] has trained with a lot of the fighters, lives and breathes this sport as a coach / fighter, and at times has the scoop on injuries, non-announced matchups, how fighters look like in camp, etc. In stocks this is called insider trading in MMA betting it’s called James Krause.”
Jeff Molina has been suspended 36 months by the Nevada Athletic Commission for failing to disclose Darrick Minner’s injury and knowingly placing a significant bet on that injury. It’s retroactive and will terminate Nov. 5, 2025.
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) March 25, 2025
It took the legal eagles at the NAC years to put the pieces together and sentence Molina and Minner to three year suspensions.
“After Molina having direct knowledge of a serious injury sustained by a fellow fighter Darrick Minner, Molina failed to inform the commission of Minner’s serious injury, in violation of NAC 467.885,” attorney general representative Matthew Feely said (via MMA Junkie). “And instead of informing the commission additionally placed significant bets with a gaming entity on the outcome of Minner’s fight.”
But Molina is denying he was the one who placed major bets on his teammate. After outraged fans suggested Molina should be banned from the sport for life, he spoke out on X (formerly Twitter).
“My words were twisted here,” he wrote. “I wagered on the entire card. It’s how I made extra money on the side when I wasn’t fighting and all I do is watch fights. I had wagers on both sides of the fight and my ‘significant’ bet was less than $500.”
My words were twisted here. I wagered on the entire card. It’s how I made extra money on the side when I wasn’t fighting and all I do is watch fights. I had wagers on both sides of the fight and my “significant” bet was less than $500. The only thing I’m guilty of was continuing
— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) March 25, 2025
“The only thing I’m guilty of was continuing to wager on fights after the UFC emailed us telling us to stop. Getting a 3 year suspension for continuing to bet two weeks after getting an email that said to stop is insane. McGregor can post his million dollar bet slip every month on a main event as a fighter on the roster and no one blinks an eye. Def a double standard there.”
“What I completely disagree with is saying I deserve a ‘lifetime ban’ for my $350 wagers I had on the entire card,” Molina concluded. “ I made a mistake by continuing to wager no doubt and a 3 yr suspension is beyond suffice, but acting like 23 year old me was this fight fixing mastermind making millions of dollars is comical.”
“The fact is a fighter fought injured which happens literally all the time and obviously word got out.”
Given the pay UFC fighters make and the money to be made off betting, we’re surprised there aren’t more scandals like this in the sport. This is just the second, and it sounds like they didn’t even catch the specific people who blew up the line so badly it triggered an investigation.
The UFC forced everyone being coached by James Krause to disassociate or be cut, and we haven’t heard a peep from him in MMA circles since. As for Jeff Molina, he’ll be eligible to fight again on November 5th, 2025.
