Drake’s knack of constantly losing his high stake sports bets saw his activities become known as ‘the Drake curse’ – unfortunately, his luck has not changed
Israel Adesanya may have been jinxed by the ‘Drake curse’ for a second time.
The Nigerian was stunned by the controversial Sean Strickland at UFC 293, who secured a unanimous decision victory to win the middleweight title. Adesanya struggled to impose himself on the contest against Strickland, who even did a bit of showboating in the 5th round.
Drake lost another huge sum of cash on his exuberant sporting bets (Image: Getty Images)
As Strickland took in his surroundings and acquainted himself with UFC gold, Adesanya struggled to explain what went wrong after the clash. However, there may be one logical explanation – Drake backed him to the tune of $500,000.
The Canadian popstar traditionally places an enormous bet when there is a major event or match. He recently banked himself a handsome $830,000 in pure profit when he backed the Denver Nuggets to win their first ever NBA title.
With his confidence high, the God’s Plan star stuck half a million dollars on Adesanya to overcome Strickland. If the African native overcame the California native, his bank account would have been bulked up by an extra $930,000.
Unfortunately, it was not to be for both Adesanya and Drake, who are now ruing some hugely costly defeats. It is the second time Adesanya has lost after Drake backed him.
(Image: Instagram/champagnepapi)
The popstar stuck $2m on Adesanya to overcome Alex Pereira at UFC 287, but the 34-year-old was knocked out by a terrifying left-hook from the Brazilian. Adesanya is far from the only sportsperson to be jinxed by Drake. He stuck around $420,000 on Jake Paul to overcome Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia, but the former YouTuber lost via a split decision.
He also lost a small fortune when he slapped nearly $300,000 on Jorge Masvidal to see off long term rival Colby Covington, but the latter overcame the veteran convincingly. Drake has not had too much luck in other sports. He lost the best part of $470,000 by backing the New York Rangers to win the NHL Eastern Conference Finals.
Adesanya did not do enough to sway the judges (Image: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Drake had another bad betting experience after punting on UFC (Image: 2022 Mark Blinch)
His bank account busting flutters have also been used in football. In October 2022, he wagered $625,000 Barcelona and Arsenal to overcome Real Madrid and Leeds United respectively. Unfortunately, only Arsenal managed to emerge victorious, securing a 1-0 away victory at Elland Road, while the Catalans lost 3-1 to Los Blancos.
