The UFC made headlines recently with the announcement that they had inserted language to the promotion’s ‘Code of Conduct’ banning contracted fighters from gambling on MMA. Already considered illegal in most states, it’s hard to know what exactly prompted the change just now. It could be that the move is motivated by plans the Endeavor-owned organization announced several years ago, to introduce their own sports betting app to the market.
Whatever the reasoning, and whatever the overarching legality of the practice, however, it’s not surprising that the news wouldn’t be well received by fighters—many of whom regularly bet both on MMA fights in general, and sometimes even on themselves to win upcoming bouts.