Ontario Bans Sportsbooks From Offering UFC Betting

Ultimate Fighting Championship bettors in Ontario have been dealt a knockout blow by the province's sports betting regulatory body.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has notified sportsbooks that they must stop offering and accepting wagers on UFC events "due to concerns about non-compliance with AGCO’s betting integrity requirements."

In a statement released Thursday, the AGCO expressed concern over "publicized alleged incidents, including possible betting by UFC insiders, as well as reports of suspicious betting patterns in other jurisdictions." The UFC doesn't currently prohibit insiders – a list that includes coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, and others – from wagering on UFC events.

“The Standards exist to protect the betting public and to provide the necessary safeguards against odds manipulation, match-fixing and other integrity issues," AGCO CEO Tom Mungham said in the statement. "This is not a decision we take lightly, knowing the popularity of UFC events in Ontario’s sportsbooks.

"However, the risks of insider betting on event(s) and wagering integrity should be highly concerning to all. It certainly is to us. We will continue to work with gaming operators, the OLG, iGaming Ontario and UFC to ensure that wagering on UFC events meets the AGCO’s Standards.”

The AGCO went on to say that, once certain conditions were met, sportsbooks could then provide information proving that UFC markets do not violate the Registrar's Standards. The wording suggests that the UFC would need to prohibit insiders from wagering on UFC events in order for AGCO to re-evaluate the situation.

The Las Vegas-based UFC is one of the most popular mixed martial arts organizations in the world, and UFC markets are offered in every U.S. state in which legal sports betting exists.