Tae Hyun Bang has been sentenced to a 10-month prison sentence after being found guilty of taking bribes for alleged fight fixing. The former UFC lightweight was sentenced in the Seoul Central District Court in South Korea per the The Korea Herald.
The alleged scheme occurred at UFC Fight Night 79 in November 2015. It was the company’s first visit to South Korea and Bang took on Leo Kuntz. Bang was given $92,160 in U.S. dollars for his role. The brokers who gave him the money were given jail sentences as well.
According to the court match fixing damages the credibility of the sport and had a bad effect on the country’s credibility. Bang took the bribe and then bet roughly half of the money he received on Kuntz. He was to lose the first two rounds of their three-round bout. Thus, ensuing victory for Kuntz. The UFC noticed the huge swing in betting lines and warned both fighters about the consequences of fight fixing. Bang ended up winning the fight via split decision.
Bang had claimed he had not known of any scheme to fix the fight but received death threats due to his win.
Payout Perspective:
This is an unfortunate result for Bang who may have been an unwilling participant in this scheme. 10 months seems like a substantial amount of jail time for his part. Yet, he took the money and then attempted to make money on the scheme but with organized crime involved, its hard to say what may have happened if he did not comply. The jail term shows the seriousness of credibility in the sport especially when gambling is involved. For the UFC, it is an important issue since we know that sports betting is inherently tied to this sport.
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