Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Fight?

by Kid Nate on Apr 22, 2008 6:59 PM EDT in MMA News

In the interest of irresponsible speculation, hey I am a blogger after all, I thought I'd make a big stink about this comment that was posted on our last Kalib Starnes thread:

I had money on the fight. It does affect me personally. I didn't bet more then I could aford to lose, but to bet on a guy and have him throw the fight breeds a little contempt. Also, I think he threw the fight. I don't have any proof, but if you look at the line for the fight it started at +400 for Starnes. How does that even make sense when he is fighting a guy that was losing to Sell before KOing him and before that was layed up with a back injury? The line was fishy and the performance played into the hands of the bookies. That just makes me question if something was up. by szucconi

This raises some real nasty spectors. But its a very real concern. Its so easy for an individual sport to be fixed -- after all, you only need to pay off one fighter -- and gambling is so deeply woven into the fabric of the sport that we really have to take this shit serious. Was Kalib betting on Quarry at +400? Did he get paid by someone who did?

Obviously there's nothing but circumstantial evidence -- and honestly I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be true -- but just the fact that we have a fighter who was heavily favored who didn't even try to fight raises a cloud.

Update [2008-4-22 21:34:31 by Kid Nate]:

Yes, I'm a dumb fuck and got the odds backwards. Starnes was a +400 underdog, not Quarry. So much for my 5 minute conspiracy theory. But still the fight sucked much much worse than this post and szucconi's concerns remain valid.

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Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

Let's just say I am very, very suspicious of this too. I lost a ton of money on a guy who lost on purpose.

by Michael Rome on Apr 22, 2008 7:07 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

I lost on the fight too (thank god for Day pulling through for me). And that is a very curious situation that would raise a lot of eyebrows in a more mainstream sport. It certainly has me thinking.

by Brent Brookhouse on Apr 22, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up reply actions

If Michael Beasley could do it

Anyone could do it. Problem is no one will ever realize that Beasley did throw a college game. It was pretty blatant.

My Fave Five: Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Demian Maia, Jon Fitch, Wagnney Fabiano

by FlyByKnight on Apr 22, 2008 7:18 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

chalk up another reason MMA is not a sport...... real sports run from gambling, not to it. In MMA you don't get tossed from the UFC for wearing a sportsbook t-shirt to a weigh in, you get tossed for wearing the WRONG sportsbook t-shirt to the weigh in. In baseball, you bet on your own sport and you get a nice long suspension. If you are in MMA, and you're Randy couture..... you drop some money on Evan tanner in his fight with baroni (which Randy has admitted to doing) and........ head to the pay window to get your winnings.

I'll agree with Kid Nate about the "interwoven" nature of it's relationship with MMA..... would we even have a thriving online MMA community without the offshore sportsbook advertisers. Or would we have a mainstream magazine like Fight!, which is bankrolled By BluffMedia.....

i love MMA, but I have a lot of qualms about treating it like a mainstream sport when it in so many ways doesn't treat itself that way.

by robnashville on Apr 22, 2008 7:24 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

If Starnes was at +400, then he was a heavy underdog, correct? I am confused how the original post says +400 for Starnes then Kid Nate says he may have bet on Quarry at +400. I am not saying anyone is wrong, but if someone could explain this to me it would be appreciated.

by durden1341 on Apr 22, 2008 7:32 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

Yeah, Nate fucked that up.

by ilostmydog on Apr 22, 2008 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Weigh Ins...

He looked awful at weigh ins. In that video they made a bit ago for the reporter that got his leg broken by Forrest Griffin, Kalib's abs were ripped. In his weigh in for a fight he looked soft.

...who's going to call it...I will....I CALL WORK!!!!!

by Higgz on Apr 22, 2008 7:57 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money

Quarry was the favorite, not Starnes. That being said, a lot of "insiders" picked Kalib to win in an upset.

by Luke Thomas on Apr 22, 2008 7:59 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money

Starnes was not a favorite, he was a huge underdog. People thought this fight could go either way, so why not take a flyer on Starnes if the bookies were willing to pay you four times your money if he won.

by legendarysprawl on Apr 22, 2008 8:01 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

This rumor and topic (did he throw the fight and bet on Quarry) is about as stupid as when people were suggesting that Yves Edwards bet ridiculous amounts of money on Mark Hominick to win before their fight.

by ilostmydog on Apr 22, 2008 8:20 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

As has been said, it was Starnes at +400.

There would be more concerned about bookies having to much action on Starnes at that line and them paying him to throw the fight than Starnes unilaterally doing anything.

by MikeyPatriot on Apr 22, 2008 8:59 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

There you go! See I told you there was something fishy, some kinda angle or somethin' that was being played on us rubes & marks.

by Kid Nate on Apr 22, 2008 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Follow the Money -- Did Starnes Throw the Figh

Right, that is how it would work. People are getting confused. The bookies catch wind of Starnes "game plan" and shift the line to attract bets on him. If they know he is going to lose then they could make the line seem really great and the line for the winner Quary really bad. This is really just speculation on my part. It comes from being bitter about lossing money, but it was a little fishy. Most of the time lines for huge matches will open months in advance while smaller matches open a week or so out. This smaller match opened right along with the big matchs. I wouldn't really call this a big match.

by szucconi on Apr 23, 2008 2:28 AM EDT up reply actions