Sunday, July 19, 2026

Rapper Drake loses $615,000 bet on Joshua vs Ngannou fight

Drake missed out on a $920,000 payout after Nigerian-born Israel Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland.

• March 9, 2024
Drake/ Anthony Joshua/ Francis Ngannou
Drake, Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou

Canadian rapper, Drake, has lost $600,000 bet after Anthony Joshua knocked out Francis Ngannou in their much-publicised heavyweight showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Mr Joshua secured a brutal knockout against Mr Ngannou in the second round of the ‘Knockout Chaos’ clash on Friday.

The superstar recording artiste, known for placing massive bets on sporting events, posted earlier on Instagram that he was betting $615,000 on Ngannou to beat Joshua outright.

“Betting on a scary man,” Drake said.

Mr Drake joined several fans of combat sports to believe that Mr Ngannou could get the job done against Mr Joshua, and if the bet had clicked, it would have paid out $1.9 million.

Although Mr Drake has recorded some big wins and losses in betting, he has gained notoriety with the “the Drake Curse,” assertion by fans accusing him of ‘cursing’ athletes and teams after being pictured with them.

The ‘curse’ has affected numerous victims such as quarterback Johnny Manziel, UFC fighter  Kamaru Usman, Tennis star Serena Williams,  and even the entire Kentucky Wildcats Basketball team in the United States.

In January, the rapper lost over half-a-million pounds when he incorrectly backed Sean Strickland to defend his UFC middleweight championship against Dricus Du Plessis.

One of Drake’s biggest bets in 2023   was on YouTube boxer Logan Paul to knockout Conor McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis in their misfits boxing fight.

The rapper won $1.3million after Danis was disqualified in the final round for trying to choke Paul unconscious, prompting a massive brawl to break out in the ring.

Earlier before that fight, Drake missed out on a $920,000 payout after Nigerian-born Israel Adesanya lost his UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland.

Drake was rooting for Adesanya to knock out Strickland in their world title clash, but Strickland produced a massive upset to win on points.

(NAN) 

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