Rapper Drake won over £3million from a bet on Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann to win their fights at UFC London.
The Canadian has a colourful history of gambling on the UFC and last month halted his losing record when he correctly backed middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to beat Jared Cannonier. Drake previously staked $275,000 on Jorge Masvidal to beat Colby Covington in March but Covington outclassed his bitter rival to spoil the rapper’s potential payday.
Two months later, Drake backed Justin Gaethje to beat Charles Oliveira at UFC 274, staking more than $400,000 on the fight, only for Oliveira to submit his rival in the opening round. On this occasion, he backed betting favourites Pimblett and McCann to register their second London victories in four months as they featured on the main card at The O2 on Saturday.
Drake staked $2.3million (£1.9m) on a double bet to win $3.7m (£3.1m) as long as Pimblett defeated Jordan Leavitt and McCann saw off the challenge of Hannah Goldy. McCann was first to the octagon, starting as the favourite against the visiting Goldy, and she made light work of the American, stopping her in the first round.
With just over a minute of the session remaining, McCann landed a right hand before a spinning back-fist had Goldy on the ropes. A further barrage dropped the underdog to the canvas and referee Herb Dean soon stepped in to stop the fight. "I'm committed to the game, whenever you want me, book it," McCann said after having her hand raised.
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And Pimblett made sure it was a successful night for Drake when he choked out Leavitt in the second round, taking him to the canvas before locking in a rear-naked choke to spark huge celebrations.
"This is how I go down, boy," he said. "I'm disappointed in my performance. In the back I was firing on all cylinders. I was s***, pardon my French, I'm better than that. That's something I'm very good at [the finish]. I love each and every person in the crowd, they're the best.
"I want to dedicate this fight to Baby Lee, a warrior, more of a fighter than any of us will ever me. But I also woke up to a message at 4am on Friday that one of my friends from home had killed themselves so Ricky, that's for you. There's a stigma that men can't talk, but if you're a man and you've got a weight on your shoulders, speak to someone, speak to anyone."
