Canadian pop star Drake is known to bet big on UFC matchups. He is even more infamous for losing hefty amounts on these bets. His passion for betting has caught many eyes, but for the wrong reason, as his bad luck with fight predictions is popularly associated with the ‘Drake Curse’.
Simply put, the Drake curse is a viral belief that any athlete or team that interacts with the Canadian rapper or even has his support will lose their following matchup. The belief also extends to his UFC betting, as it is regarded that a fighter is likely to lose if Drake has bet money on his victory.
According to the fans, the latest ‘victim’ of the ‘Drake curse’ is the two-time UFC champ Israel Adesanya, who lost to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in one of the biggest upsets ever. This has once again brought the Canadian singer’s poor run with betting into the limelight as he had placed a bet of $500,000 on Adesanya winning by KO. The reason was that Adesanya was the clear favorite to win the fight, and fans had written off Strickland.
Dear Mr. @Drake
Please don’t bet on any of our fighters.
🙏
Respectfully #AmericanTopTeam #JustSayNo #GodsPlan#UFC
— American Top Team (@AmericanTopTeam) September 10, 2023
However, the latter pulled off an absolute fighting masterclass, and people were quick enough to connect Drake with this unexpected result. Giving even more validation to this belief, top MMA gym American Top Team has requested the superstar to not bet on any of their fighters.
American Top Team is a reputed MMA training academy associated with popular fighters like Alexandre Pantoja, Adriano Moraes, Pedro Munhoz, Edson Barbosa, Dustin Poirier, and Jorge Masvidal, among others.
Famous fighters who are affected by the ‘Drake Curse’
The most popular fighter to have allegedly been affected by the curse is, for sure, the former double champ Conor McGregor. During the weigh-in for the UFC 229 bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, the rapper temporarily stepped away from his music endeavors to join the Irishman. However, Conor lost by submission, and it was arguably the most famous victory of his career.
In March of last year, Drake began wagering substantial amounts on UFC bouts, supporting Jorge Masvidal in his popular fight against Colby Covington. However, the rapper experienced a setback, losing $275,000. His streak of misfortune continued as Justin Gaethje was submitted by Charles Oliveira in their lightweight title showdown, resulting in another $400,000 loss for Drake.
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Quite recently, he also bet $250,000 for a payout of $1,000,000 on UFC legend Nate Diaz to win his boxing debut fight against Jake Paul. Much to Drake’s despise, the younger Diaz brother lost by a unanimous decision. However, some fighters have been able to escape the ‘Drake curse’ too. A case in point is the UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who won the bout against Ciryl Gane, and the rapper made some good money from that fight.
Molly McCann and Paddy Pimblet also did not fall prey to the curse, and on top of that, they helped the Canadian star with a $3.6 million payday. So, do you also think that the ‘Drake Curse’ is real? Tell us in the comments!
