Drake and UFC Betting’s Weird Relationship

Canadian music artist, Drake is not opposed to betting on various different sporting outcomes. From betting a crazy $1 million on the outcome of the 2022 Fifa World Cup (losing as he backed Lionel Messi’s Argentina to win in normal time, however, they won on penalties) to betting on influencer boxing, Drake is a partner of Stake betting company, so whether he loses money on betting or not, he certainly makes a lot through the deal itself.

‘The Drake Curse’ was supposedly a thing for years in the UFC. Conor McGregor brought Drake to the UFC 229 weigh-ins, with Drake holding the Irish tri-colour. As we know, McGregor went on to lose that fight via submission in his bitter grudge match against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

It was an underlying ‘joke’ in the world of MMA that Drake backed a fighter, that fighter was doomed to lose the fight. We look at some of those that he’s backed, how much he lost on those fights and the man who snapped the curse.

Losses Costing Drake Money

UFC 272: Jorge Masvidal ML vs. Colby Covington $275k loss

The Canadian backed Jorge Masvidal in his long overdue grudge match with Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 272. Riding a losing run of two straight and coming off the back of a huge knockout loss, Gamebread fell to the Drake curse, losing a lopsided decision.

UFC 278: Jose Aldo ML vs. Merab Dvalishvili $230k loss AND Kamaru Usman ML vs. Leon Edwards $200k loss

Drake backed two separate fighters on this night, none of whom won their bouts. Firstly, he picked former featherweight king and UFC hall of famer, Jose Aldo to get the better of Merab Dvalishvili in their bantamweight clash. The Georgian outworked Aldo to a decision victory, losing Drake a reported $230k.

On the same night, it appeared as if the Canadian superstar may have gained some of his losses back having chosen Kamaru Usman to retain his welterweight belt in his rematch with Leon Edwards. It was all going well for both Drake and Usman… until it wasn’t. The headkick heard around the world not only lost Usman the strap but also depleted Drake of a reported $200k.

UFC 281: Israel Adesanya ML vs. Alex Pereira $2 million loss

One of Drake’s most substantial losses came at the hands of Poatan, Alex Pereira. Drake backed Israel Adesanya to finally defeat his rival, however, a fifth-round TKO victory for Pereira saw Drake lose a staggering $2 million.

With that being said, Adesanya was backed by Drake yet again at UFC 287, winning him reportedly $1.8 million, so it isn’t all bad.

Adesanya would yet again lose the Canadian money, however, when he picked him to the value of $500k to beat Sean Strickland.

For those keeping count, Drake would back Adesanya AGAIN at UFC 305 against Dricus du Plessis. $450k was put down on The Last Stylebender to beat the middleweight champion, however, du Plessis submitted the New Zealander, losing Drake his stake.

For those keeping count, Adesanya has cost Drake $295,0000 in total.

There’s a whole host of other backings by Drake that have lost him money on the UFC, including Leon Edwards to knock out Colby Covington, Aljamain Sterling to beat Sean O’Malley and two separate bets on Jorge Masvidal to beat Gilbert Burns outright and a separate bet for him to win via knockout, which he did neither.

Curse Broken?

Jon Jones was backed by Drake in his heavyweight debut. The artist backed Jones via knockout ($250k) and by submission ($250k) and as we know, Bones submitted Ciryl Gane with ease, winning Drake a substantial amount of money.

Is the curse now broken? Alex Pereira was backed against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300, again winning the Canadian some money.

Who will Drake back next? Only time will tell but one thing is for sure, it’s best if he backs your favourite fighter, you may be in for a long night!