Betting is fun and adds excitement to sports for fans. Those not directly involved in the game have a chance to win something, aside from just rooting for their favorite athletes or team to win. However, at UFC 299, one fan suffered a huge betting setback. The betting platform Draftking shared a post on X mentioning one UFC fan bet $120,000 on Benoit Saint Denis to beat Dustin Poirier, hoping for a $175k return. However, Poirier’s dominant win left him empty-handed, similar to Drake, who lost huge money on many occasions.
A fan bet on Saint-Denis, the ex-special force officer, who was a betting favorite. However, Poirier surprised everyone by defying all the odds and proving why he’s a legend, knocking out BSD in round 2. This scenario resembles that of Drake’s bets on athletes, often leading to losses, which is also known as the “Drake Curse.” A recent example is the $615k bet against Anthony Joshua, leaving him with nothing as AJ outclassed ‘The Predator’.
There’s no denying that betting intensifies fans’ involvement in sports, encouraging them to analyze, strategize, and make careful predictions for financial gain, which isn’t present in simply watching sports.
However, such bets also leaves one vulnerable to financial setbacks in a blink just like how a UFC fan lost his $120k at UFC 299. Interestingly, although it is a big loss, it seems small in front of Drake’s bet.
Drake lost $615k betting on Francis Ngannou’s win over Anthony Joshua
Just before the event, Drake posted on Instagram that he bet $615,000 on Ngannou, calling him “a scary man.” Despite Ngannou’s limited boxing experience, Drake was sure of his win, given how he performed against Tyson Fury. But AJ shocked everyone by knocking out Ngannou, something that hadn’t happened before this fight.
However, it is not always that he lost his money. Drake’s bet on Jon Jones at UFC 285 was a big one: $250,000 on him to win by submission, and another $250,000 on a knockout. With Jones winning by submission, Drake walked away with $1.7 million. Thus, such instances pretty much puts to rest the infamous myth of ‘The Drake Curse’.
