On Friday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended MMA coach James Krause. On the same day, the UFC informed fighters who train with Krause’s Glory MMA gym that they would not be allowed to compete on UFC cards if they continued to train with Krause. Today, ESPN reported that Krause is not welcome at Friday’s Fighting Alliance Championship 17 fight card in Independence, Missouri.
This news comes a day after UFC Fight Pass, which had advertised the event as “James Krause’s FAC 17” on its schedule for Friday, removed the card from its programming without comment.
Joe Wooster, a co-founder of FAC, told ESPN, ”James is not any part of our ownership group. He’s not the licensed promoter, not the licensed matchmaker. Just like every promotion in the Midwest, we use a bunch of his fighters. But he’s in no way, shape or form involved in the event. I know that the UFC kind of branded it James Krause’s FAC, and that’s just kind of what they do to extend their audience. They always try to associate a fighter with a promotion. That’s where James kind of got his involvement.”
A UFC story from January of this year reported, “Krause and a business partner started Kansas City Fighting Alliance in 2012” and that in 2019, “KCFA rebranded to Fighting Alliance Championship and moved into a new, larger arena.”
In the UFC story, Krause said, “FAC is the product of KCFA.”
Several Glory MMA fighters are booked for the FAC 17 event, including main event competitor Gauge Young.
Krause is under investigation for betting irregularities stemming from a November 4 fight between Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. Krause was in Minner’s corner for the fight.
The ongoing investigation into the fight, which took place at UFC Vegas 64, kicked off after the betting line on Nuerdanbieke moved from -220 to -420 and bets came in on Nuerdanbieke to win via knockout.
During the early moments of that fight, Minner’s knee buckled in the first exchange of the fight. Nuerdanbieke finished him via TKO shortly afterward.
Gambling watchdog U.S. Integrity immediately notified sportsbooks of the irregular line movement and opened an investigation into the fight. The UFC and NSAC followed shortly afterward.
Krause became a person of interest as he had recently made headlines for operating a popular Discord channel where he gave betting tips. The channel has since been closed along with a similarly focused YouTube account.
Bloody Elbow reached out to the Missouri Office of Athletics after the event was removed from the UFC Fight Pass schedule and was informed that the event would proceed as scheduled from the Cable Dahmer Arena.
Bloody Elbow also reached out to the UFC about the removal of the event from UFC Fight Pass. The promotion did not reply to our inquiry prior to publication.
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