The "Drake Curse" Strikes Again: MMA Gym's Desperate Plea

Famous Canadian rapper Drake has had his fair share of sports betting failures in recent years — so much so that the “Drake Curse” is one of the most popular phrases among bettors worldwide.

After suffering another brutal financial hit last weekend, Drake was addressed by one of the world’s top MMA gyms on Monday as the American Top Team sent him an interesting message on social media.

“Dear Mr. Drake. Please don’t bet on any of our fighters. 🙏 Respectfully”

The tweet provoked hilarious reactions, but Drake did not seem to have found it funny, as we are still short of his response.

What Caused the Tweet?

We have often seen trilogies in MMA fights, but Drake now has one of his own with the former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

The rapper wagered $2 million on his win over Alex Pereira in November last year at the UFC 281 when the Brazilian fighter surprised the world via a fifth-round TKO.

Drake recovered his losses five months later as his trust in Adesanya paid off to land him a whopping $2.7 million following a second-round stoppage.

Nevertheless, the “Hotline Bling” singer returned to the old habits last weekend as his trilogy with bets on Adesanya, a fighter he obviously appreciates, was completed with another tough loss.

Adesanya was a massive favorite (-650) to defend his middleweight belt in the bout against Sean Strickland in the main event of the UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia. Drake bet $500,000 on the New Zealander to beat the title challenger via a TKO/Disqualification, only to see a shocking turn of events.

Strickland secured an early knockdown, stormed past the defending champion in five rounds, and completed one of the greatest upsets in MMA history with a unanimous decision victory.

Drake’s Previous Betting Losses

Strickland’s upset at the recent UFC event was the icing on the cake of Drake’s infamous betting career. The 36-year-old has lost a lot of money trying to test his sports knowledge.

The series of losses includes a $250,000 wager on Nate Diaz to see off Jake Paul in August. The popular YouTuber ended up dominating the bout and winning through the unanimous decision.

Drake was impressed by Paul’s showing on the occasion that he backed the YouTube star to KO Tommy Fury in a bout in February this year in Saudi Arabia. Not surprisingly, Fury got the win through the split decision.

On top of MMA and boxing, the rapper also fancies soccer wagers. Unfortunately, he has not had much luck in this field, either.

The pinnacle of his betting misfortunes came in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final when Drake backed Lionel Messi’s Argentina to beat France in normal time. Messi did lift the trophy, but the South American heavyweights needed penalties to get their hands on it, following two late goals from Kylian Mbappe at the death of the regular 90 minutes of action.

Notable American Top Team Fighters

American Top Team is one of the best MMA gyms in the world. It has hosted numerous stars of the sport, including Dustin Poirier, Paige VanZant, Jorge Masvidal, Amanda Nunes, Junior dos Santos, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, and Yoel Romero, among others.

However, their fighters have not had much success representing the gym in their latest bouts. Dustin Poirier suffered an early KO defeat to Justin Gaethje in late July, while Jorge Masvidal announced retirement after losing to Gilbert Burns in April.

Drake could potentially get the ATT athletes back on track by betting against them in the upcoming bouts. Is it time for a new tweet?