Ex UFC fighter gets jail time for failed fight fixing

The Korea Herald reports that former UFC lightweight Tae-hyun Bang has been sentenced to 10 months in prison by a local court for his involvement in a fight-fixing sceme at UFC Fight Night 79 on November 28, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. Bang took a bribe of 100 million won (approximately $90,000) from brokers to deliberately throw a fight vs. Leo Kuntz. Please note, this was an attempted fix, not a work – the other fighter, Leo Kuntz, was entirely unknowing of the plot.

“The crime of match-fixing damages the credibility of sport, and in international matches, it has a bad effect on the country’s credibility as well,” said court. “Bang had an obligation to play the game fairly, but he ignored it and took an important role in the scheme. But we did take into consideration that Bang won the bout and returned the money afterwards.”

Brokers bribed Bang to throw two rounds vs. Kuntz, but UFC officials noticed an unprecedented shift in the betting lines towards Bang losing, and subsequently interviewed both fighters. That apparently spooked Bang, who decided to fight for real, and ended up winning a split decision.

Bang never told the bad guys.

A fight-fixing broker identified as Yang reportedly lost approximately $200,000 on the failed fix, and threatened Bang to cover his losses. Yang later took approximately $9,000 from Bang, and was also indicted, along Shoot, DEEP and PRIDE veteran Dae-won Kim.

Kim apparently told acquaintances that he could fix the UFC bout by persuading Bang. Kim also sent approximately $400,000 to Las Vegas in violation of the foreign exchange transaction act.

Bang’s UFC contract was terminated. Kuntz, who knew nothing of the scam, was released following the loss, and has since gone 1-1 in Korea’s Road FC.

Three brokers who handed money to Bang also received jail terms for their part in the crime.