At UFC 297, the infamous ‘Drake curse’ struck again as Dricus du Plessis defeated Sean Strickland to become the UFC Middleweight champion, contrary to the rapper’s bet on Strickland’s victory. Two days post-victory, Du Plessis humorously mocked Drake on Twitter, emphasizing the rapper’s continued misfortune in sports betting.
O snap almost forgot, Thanks @drake
— Dricus Du Plessis (@dricusduplessis) January 22, 2024
Drake loses a huge amount of money betting against Dricus Du Plessis
Prior to the fight, Drake posted an Instagram story showcasing his wager of a massive $700,000 on Sean Strickland to retain his middleweight title against Dricus du Plessis. A successful Strickland defense would have resulted in an impressive nearly $1.4 million payout for the rapper. However, the weekend was not kind enough for Drake as he lost the money.
Drake bet $700K on Sean Strickland to beat Dricus Du Plessis tonight 😳
(via @Drake) pic.twitter.com/feg4Un8OID
— br_betting (@br_betting) January 20, 2024
The bout between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis took place at UFC 297 and the betting odds were almost equal. Sean Strickland was the favourite while Du Plessis was the underdog. This was mostly because Sean put up a masterclass against former UFC Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and caused a huge upset in the MMA betting scene too.
Dricus Du Plessis’s win over Sean Strickland has been a subject of debate. The close fight had varying opinions from leading figures of the MMA community and the fans. The fight went the distance, and it got bloody as Du Plessis cut Sean above the eye. The South African had swollen eyes too, from the constant jabs of Sean.
Dricus Du Plessis had success in taking down Sean with 6 out of 11 attempts successful but Sean had an overwhelming number of significant strikes 173 to Du Plessis’s 137. The split decision victory is in debate as Du Plessis failed to cause any significant damage during his control time.
The UFC president Dana White believes Sean Strickland had the rounds 1, 2 and 5 and won the fight. He believes that Dricus Du Plessis failed to “take” the championship from the champion as he said “I had it even going to the fifth round, This is the round … see who wants it.’ They both started to turn it up a little bit. It’s just one of those tight fights. But, I’m also one of these guys … I believe you have to take it from the champion.”
Dana White says he had it 2-2 going into the 5th and had Strickland winning the fight. pic.twitter.com/OfVHEVsM4e
— CrashMMA (@mmacrash) January 21, 2024
Many veterans have given their verdict on the match. With many like Joe Rogan and Dana White believing Sean Strickland won the fight, former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson believes Dricus Du Plessis deserved to win.
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