On Saturday when Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293, he was not the only one who suffered a damaging defeat. Canadian rapper Drake placed a bet of $500,000 in anticipation that Adesanya would knock out his opponent. He would have earned $920,000 on his wager if his prediction had come to pass. But, he lost and is yet to recover from the shock.
He took to his Instagram page and posted a picture of the wager. Drake has been trolled in the past with many describing him as the curse in sports. Whenever he bets on athletes or teams, they tend to experience unexpected losses or setbacks.
This phenomenon has played out with sporting figures like Conor McGregor, Serena Williams, and the Kentucky men’s basketball team, according to the New York Post. But sports critics believe it stretches beyond the perceived Drake’s curse. Adesanya is the cover athlete for UFC 5, a video game that promotes MMA fights. Cover athletes for many sporting disciplines have witnessed tough seasons after their promotion engagements.
It started with Madden, the popular NFL video game. It has now been christened the “Madden Curse”. It has affected numerous NFL players, including Michael Vick, Shaun Alexander, Marshall Faulk, and Peyton Hillis. Following his recent loss, Adesanya expressed his intention to stay low-key and be with his supportive team, acknowledging that sometimes life takes unexpected turns.
“I had a different plan for this, but life throws curveballs at you,” Adesanya told reporters after his loss. “Win or lose, I wasn’t going to say much anyway, but right now, I lost tonight to the better man on the night and I just want to be with people who care about me, my team, so I’m going to go do that,” he said, as reported by New York Post.
