The Drake Curse term is becoming everyday parlance after the rapper lost $450,000 backing Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Curse keeps on coming
Anyone still in doubt about the ‘Drake Curse’ may be forced to think again after the weekend, but his record also might not be as bad as certain news sources are reporting.
bet on Israel Adesanya to beat Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305
Drake’s bet on Israel Adesanya to beat Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 on Saturday evening went south, adding yet another loss to the Canadian rappers’ long list. The following night, combat sports news source Happy Punch took to X after the fight to reveal that Drake has just 17 wins to 189 losses in sports bets:
The reported statistic would mean that Drake has lost a jaw-dropping 92% of the bets he’s made. However, a community note on X has suggested that the stats are completely made up, highlighting that Drake has not made that many bets publicly. An X user called IcyVert has claimed responsibility for the fake stats:
Big bet goes south
Regardless of the made-up stats, Drake’s latest loss cost him $450,000 as du Plessis punched and choked his way past Adesanya to defend his UFC middleweight title. The rapper would have won $855,000 if the ‘Style Bender’ had beaten the South African to reclaim his title.
After beating Adesanya, Du Plessis took to X to post a picture of himself with his title belt raising a glass in thanks to Drake:
According to the Daily Mail, while du Plessis thanked Drake for betting against him, many fans blamed the rapper on social media for putting a jinx on Adesanya, 35.
The rapper has backed and lost bets on Tyson Fury, Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Jorge Masvidal, Justin Gaethje and even YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul, who stated: “F*ck this is Drake’s fault,” after suffering his first pro boxing loss last year.
The Drake Curse
Like another high-profile serial bettor Jim ‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale, Drake has become a household name for placing giant bets on sports events over the past few years, and losing most of them.
$300,000 lost backing Canada to beat Argentina in the Copa America semi-final
In 2024 alone, Drake’s sports betting picks show his nightmare form. His miserable record includes $300,000 lost backing Canada to beat Argentina in the Copa America semi-final last month. He was memorably roasted by the winning team, who used a Not Like Us diss song by Kendrick Lamar to rub salt into Drake’s wounds.
A couple months previous, Drake kissed $565,000 goodbye after backing Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk and retain his WBC belt.
June was a particularly bad month for Drake. He lost $500,000 when the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in only five games to win the NBA Finals, and waved goodbye to another $500,000 when the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
