04 March 2023 , 06:16
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Drake will be in the money if Jon Jones can stop Ciryl Gane inside the distance of their UFC heavyweight title fight.
Jones, 35, makes his heavyweight debut against Gane in the main event of UFC 285 in Las Vegas tonight. The Canadian rap artist is backing 'Bones' to become a two-weight champion in the fight as he bet $250,000 on the fighter to win by submission and $250,000 for him to win by knockout. A submission for Jones would return $1.7million for Drake whilst a knockout returns $1.3million.
The bet comes after Drake lost $400,000 last weekend when he predicted YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul would beat Love Island star Tommy Fury in their grudge fight. Drake is no stranger to betting big money on the UFC, first backing Jorge Masvidal to beat Colby Covington in their grudge fight last March. The rapper lost $275,000 on the fight and his poor fortunes continued when Justin Gaethje was choked out by Charles Oliveira in their title clash just months later.
After a disastrous few months for the Canadian, Drake broke his bad run of form by winning a $1million bet on Israel Adesanya to beat Jared Cannonier in their middleweight title fight last July. The rapper then won his biggest bet yet as he backed Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann to win their respective fights UFC London. The Scouse duo were then gifted plush Rolex watches by Drake after winning him a huge payday.
Jones hasn't given an official prediction of how he plans to beat Gane, but did label his opponent as the most "incomplete fighter" in the top-five of the heavyweight division. 'Bones' has insisted that he is ready to bleed in their fight and has questioned whether Gane has the resilience to survive if their fight goes into the later rounds.
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What are your thoughts on Drake betting $500,000 on Jon Jones to beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 285? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"It's hard to say whether the fight will be my toughest challenge or not," Jones said. "I am ready to dominate but if I don't dominate and the fight goes five rounds then I'm ready for a dogfight. To bleed, sweat and leave my heart out there. I'm ready for however it goes."
"I realised that he [Gane] doesn't really have much wrestling. He relies on evasion and trying to get away. He relies on jiu-jitsu instead of solid takedown defence. He does have the striking down, I don't think defensively he is a very strong kickboxer. Two other big holes are jiu-jitsu and wrestling."