Former MMA coach James Krause, at the center of an alleged fight-fixing scandal, resurfaced over the weekend to announce he is massively in debt and now grappling with the real estate world.
“I’m in over 5 million dollars of debt and don’t lose a second of sleep over it,” Krause wrote in a Facebook post before discussing the ins and outs of real estate investments.
Krause was suspended indefinitely by the UFC, and the promotion said the FBI was investigating his role in a first-round loss by his fighter, Darrick Minner, which was preceded by suspicious betting patterns against him in November 2022.
Krause was suspended by the UFC, and the promotion told fighters that they would be unable to compete if they remained affiliated with him.
The now ex-MMA coach has rebranded his Facebook page to push a litany of real estate investments that appear to be successful in his short career.
It looks as if he has sold, flipped and remodeled several properties in his short time on the career path, including the sale of a property that was initially listed at $239,000.
But UFC president Dana White once had a grimmer forecast of whether he would indeed be found guilty of fight-fixing, stemming from the November fight involving Minner.
“Do you know what the outcome of this is?” White said when asked about the investigation. “If I penalize them, they get cut, but they’re going to go federal prison, federal f–king prison if they’re that f–king stupid… there’s not enough money in it.”
Sportsbooks initially flagged suspicious betting patterns on a fight involving Krause’s fighter Minner and his opponent Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.
Krause seems to have pursued real estate as his new business endeavor since MMA is no longer a viable option.
The ex-MMA coach appears to be tackling real estate with high intensity, but his betting habits were actually the most lucrative part of his career at one point.
“I make more gambling on MMA than I do anything else,” Krause said in an August 2022 podcast appearance.
Krause mentioned that he would receive 10 percent of his fighter’s total pay from the UFC, which he mentioned could be upwards of $20,000-$40,000 per fight.
The fight-fixing scandal was among the first seen since sports betting was legalized across the United States, although no conclusion to the investigation has been announced.
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Over the past several weeks, more and more betting controversies embroil themselves into the sports world.
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly embezzled $4.5 million to pay off sports gambling debts while fringe NBA player Jontay Porter is being investigated by the NBA for suspicious betting patterns involving his props.
The effects of MMA’s scandal are still being felt with sportsbooks in Ontario refusing to allow wagering on MMA until the sport got a handle on the situation.