09 April 2023 , 06:34
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Rapper Drake won $2.7million after Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira at UFC 287 to reclaim the middleweight title.
Adesanya won back the 185lb title just five months after he lost it to his bitter rival Pereira, who has previously beaten him twice in kickboxing. Drake lost $1.6million after backing Adesanya to win in that fight but he made amends for the rapper in his rematch with Pereira. 'Drizzy Drake' placed a $500,000 bet on Adesanya to win which returned $885,000 and a $400,000 bet for him to win by knockout, which returned a massive $1.8million.
'Stylebender' was asked about Drake's bet after his fight, to which he said: "Shoutout to everyone that bet on me but you have to realise that when I step into the octagon I put my life on the line. That's the biggest parlay you can ever do. I'm a betting man too so shoutout to stake, we are about to make another deal and get more money."
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Drake gained notoriety for his UFC bets when he backed Masvidal to beat Colby Covington in their grudge fight last March, but the rapper lost $275,000 on the fight. His bad luck continued just months later when Justin Gaethje was choked out by Charles Oliveira in their lightweight title clash, with Gaethje's loss costing Drake $400,000.
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After a bad few months of betting for 'Drizzy', he broke his poor run by winning $1m when Adesanya beat Jared Cannonier in their title fight last July. Drake's six-figure bets paid off when Scouse duo Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann won their respective fights UFC London. Their wins pocketed Drake a $3.6m payday and he showed his appreciation by gifting Pimblett and McCann new Rolex watches.
Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira at UFC 287Elsewhere on the UFC 287 card, Jorge Masvidal retired after he was decisively beaten by Gilbert Burns in the co-main event. Adrian Yanez was brutally knocked by Rob Font in the first round whilst Kevin Holland got back in the win column after his loss to Stephen Thompson by knocking out Santiago Ponzinibbio 18-year-old prospect Raul Rosas Jr suffered his first UFC defeat as the teenager was beaten by Christian Rodriguez.
Former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Curtis both earned $50,000 performance bonuses for their action-packed fight that Gastelum won by unanimous decision. Joe Pyfer scored a big knockout win against Gerald Meerschaert in just his second fight for the promotion. Loopy Godinez, Ignacio Bahamondes and Sam Hughes all picked up hard-fought decision wins whilst Steve Garcia rallied after an early scare to knockout Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.