Seoul (AFP) - South Korean mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Bang Tae Hyun on Thursday (Nov 23) received a 10-month jail sentence for his involvement in a match-fixing scam.

Bang was found guilty of taking a bribe of 100 million won (S$124,073) from match-fixers in exchange for promising to throw an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bout against Leo Kuntz at Fight Night 79 in 2015.

The ruling came despite the lightweight fighter apparently changing his mind and going on to beat Kuntz in Seoul after UFC officials - who noticed a sudden shift in betting patterns on gambling websites - warned him about match-fixing.

Bang had received the money from one of the brokers.

"Match-fixing scams undermine public trust in the fairness of sport... This case also damaged the country's international credibility," the Seoul Central District Court said in a statement.

Three brokers were also sentenced to between 10 and 36 months in prison and eight others were handed down suspended jail sentences, the statement said.

Bang, 34, was the pre-match favourite over his American opponent but just hours before the fight, UFC officials caught drastic changes in odds that made him the underdog, Yonhap news agency said.