As far as Jeff Molina is concerned, he serves his time.
On Tuesday, the Nevada Athletics Committee slapped Molina on a three-year suspension caused by his involvement in the 2022 betting scandal, where he bets on his fight against teammate Darrick Minner and Sheylan Nuerdanbieke at UFC Vegas 64.
It was later discovered that Minna dealt with injuries and brought about a dramatic change in the gambling line in favor of Nuer Dan Bieke, who quickly defeated Minna via TKO in the opening round.
The committee later determined that Molina was aware of Minner’s injuries and did not disclose them, and placed a bet on the contest in question that went down in November 2022.
Morina is eligible to face him on November 5th, 2025.
Jeff Molina protects herself from a lifetime of ban
Following the news, Molina quickly defended herself against those who suggested he should have been attacked by a once-in-a-lifetime ban.
“My words were twisted here. I bet on the whole card,” Molina wrote to X:
“The only thing I’ve guilty of was that I’ve been betting on the fight after the UFC sent us an email to stop. Getting a three-year pause to continue betting for two weeks after receiving the stop email is crazy.
“It’s not about making you look good,” Molina wrote in a pair of follow-up posts in a few minutes. “I’m saying what I did. What I totally disagrees with is that I’m saying it deserves a ‘lifetime ban’ for the $350 bet I had on the entire card.
“I definitely made mistakes by continuing to wager. The three-year suspension is plenty more, but behaving like me at 23 is a multi-million dollar fight that’s comical.
Molina was on a 10-match winning streak before being stopped, including the trio’s victory in his first three appearances in the UFC. “Ergev” defeated Aoriqileng, Daniel Lacerda and Zhalgas Zhumagulov from April 2021 to June 2022 before his MMA career was put on hold.
Minner has received a 29-month suspension in his role in the scandal and is already entitled to compete. As for their head coach James Kraus, an investigation into his involvement is underway.