Dricus Du Plessis responds to rapper Drake after suffering from betting 'curse'

Five-time grammy award winner Drake bet $700,000 on Sean Strickland to beat Du Plessis but his huge bet lost after Strickland lost his world title by split decision

Dricus Du Plessis has mocked Drake for losing $700,000 after betting on Sean Strickland to win their UFC title fight.

The Canadian rapper was banking on Strickland to defend his middleweight world title against Du Plessis last weekend, but things didn't go to plan for him as the champion lost his belt by split decision. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favour of Du Plessis whilst the other judge scored it 48-47 for Strickland in a fight that could have gone either way.

"Oh snap, almost forget thanks Drake," Du Plessis tweeted after his win. Fans have since joked about the 'Drake curse' plaguing Strickland as one comment read: "Drake could pay the entire UFC roster with his gambling losses." Another user added: "I was so happy to see Drake bet against you, I was even more sure you were winning."

Drake is no stranger to betting huge money on UFC fights and Strickland has come round to haunt him again as he lost $920,000 when Israel Adesanya shockingly lost his world title to the American last September. The rapper did pocket some big winnings last year as he won $2.7million when Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira and $1.7milllion when Jon Jones became a two-weight champion.

Strickland thinks he beat Du Plessis and has since called for a rematch, also claiming an accidental clash of heads deteriorated his vision in the fight. Du Plessis fired back by commenting on Strickland's post: "Why don't you cry about it... again." UFC boss Dana White scored the fight in favour of Strickland but played down an immediate rematch between the pair.

All signs point towards a fight between Du Plessis and former champion Adesanya next, as the bitter rivals were originally supposed to fight at UFC 293 before Du Plessis got injured and was replaced by Strickland. Adesanya recently hinted a UFC 300 return and Du Plessis seems up for competing at the mega-event.

“I look like a cauliflower now, I’m pretty banged up but I’m up for another round. I don’t want to put a timeline on it but UFC 300 sounds amazing. It’s nothing personal with [Israel], it’s just the fight the fans want to see. There’s a lot of hype, but I don’t care who it is," Du Plessis said after his win.