By Agency Report
Drake would have walked away with $855,000 (£660,563) if Israel Adesanya had beaten Dricus du Plessis to make history by becoming the second UFC fighter to win the same title three times.
The rap superstar staked a whopping $450,000 (£347,000) wager on ‘Stylebender’ to win back his middleweight title from reigning champion Plessis at UFC 305 in Perth on Saturday night.
Adesanya is a Nigerian while Plessis is a South African.
However, Drake ended up suffering a submission loss at UFC 305.
Adesanya was wobbled in round four before du Plessis swarmed him with strikes, secured the takedown, took his back, locked up a rear-naked choke, and became the first man to submit him.
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Several hours before Dana White’s latest pay-per-view event got underway, Drake shared a picture of his betting slip to Instagram, with the caption: “Always with Izzy.”
The 37-year-old Canadian’s support has not always been a good thing for Adesanya, who has lost two of the four times he’s previously been backed to win by ‘Champagne Papi’
In July 2022, Drake put $1million (£770,000) on Adesanya when he squared off against Jared Cannonier and walked away with $1.3million after his points win at UFC 276.
A few months later, Alex Pereira’s stunning come-from-behind victory at UFC 281 cost Drake a whopping $1.6million (£1,240,000) – but he got most of it back by betting on Adesanya to KO ‘Poatan’ in their rematch at UFC 287.
After banking $1,440,000 (£1,112,528) in that fight, Drake lost a big chunk of it when he placed a massive bet on Adesanya’s next bout – a title defence against unfancied underdog Sean Strickland.
Strickland dropped and outpointed the champion to become the champion with a unanimous decision victory, which put a $500,000 hole in Drake’s pocket.
Adesanya has now lost three of his last four fights in the UFC.
Despite that, he is confident about returning to the top very soon.
“I’m 35. I’m doing all the right things,” he told Daniel Cormier post-fight at UFC 305.
“I know you all you motherf***ers wanna see me lose, you wanna see me down – but watch this.
“I’m not f***ing leaving! I’m not f***ing leaving!”
