UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and U.S. Integrity, a leading technology-driven sports wagering monitoring company, announced an agreement in which U.S. Integrity will become the official integrity service for UFC, capable of identifying and analyzing unusual wagering activity as indicative of possible integrity concerns. The agreement takes effect immediately and establishes services for the entirety of 2023 and will encompass all UFC events, including Dana White’s Contender Series.
Riché T. McKnight, Executive VP & General Counsel of UFC, said: Throughout this process, we have had productive discussions with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to address the concerns AGCO expressed to their operators. We have made enhancements to our UFC Athlete Conduct Policy to more clearly express the prohibition against any UFC athlete from placing any wagers directly or through a third party on any UFC match, including placing wagers on themselves. We have also expanded our discussion of so-called ‘UFC Insiders’ to make clear that these same prohibitions against wagering apply to an athlete’s coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, and other individuals affiliated with the athletes or UFC, and that violations by these Insiders may result in disciplinary action against related contract athletes. Finally, we have reiterated our expectation that our contract athletes will come to us to report any matters that might raise integrity concerns. We thank the AGCO for their cooperation, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure the integrity of our sport for the benefit of our athletes and our fans.”
Through U.S. Integrity, UFC will strengthen its current integrity controls by adding expertise in data intelligence and fraud prevention.
“There is no greater responsibility we have to our athletes, fans, and business partners than to ensure the integrity of our sport. U.S. Integrity will help us strengthen our existing best practices by applying their expertise in data intelligence to proactively identify irregular bout-level wagering patterns. This information can inform UFC’s response and can be preemptively shared with sports books, who can make informed decisions as to whether or not halt betting on a particular bout,” McKnight said.
“U.S. Integrity is proud to partner with UFC and assist as wagering on their events continues to rapidly grow across the regulated sports betting market. U.S. Integrity’s mission is to provide best-in-class insights and compliance solutions to our clients. We are looking forward to working with the exceptional team at UFC as they work to improve their integrity policies and procedures,” Matthew Holt, CEO & co-founder of U.S. Integrity, said.
