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Israel Adesanya and the Rapper Drake Get Beat at UFC 281 - Newstbt.com

Tiffany Burroughs
Updated: 23 June 2023
2 min to read

When Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira faced off in UFC 281, Adesanya was sure he’d be able to keep his title. His confidence was misguided, though, and rapper Drake, who’d put money on Adesanya, ended up taking a huge loss.
Pereira beats Adesanya
Alex Pereira takes the title from reigning champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 281. The fight was mostly dominated by Adesanya, who used his kicks and quick punches to stay in control. However, in the fourth round, Pereira began to make some headway with his overhand punches that lasted into the fifth and final round. In the end, Pereira was victorious, giving him the title of champion.

Adesanya Loses Crown

At the end of an intense five-round battle, Pereira took down Adesanya by TKO to become the new middleweight champion. With two minutes left in the fight, Pereira executed various combinations that weren’t able to be defended by Adesanya, leading the referee, Marc Goddard, to intervene to prevent any further damage. Pereira raised his hand displaying ‘3-0’, signifying the number of times that he had beaten Adesanya. Despite being relatively inexperienced in the UFC with just four fights, Pereira emerged as the king of the middleweights.

On Saturday night, UFC 281 featured an exciting showcase of bouts, with Weili Zhang taking the strawweight championship away from Carla Esparza after submitting her in the second round. In a surprising turn of events, Dustin Poirier finished Michael Chandler at the end of the third round. Frankie Edgar, a veteran former lightweight champion, was defeated by Chris Gutierrez via knockout and subsequently retired. On the contrary to the celebratory events of the night, the UFC was met with sadness the following day. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, a two-time UFC title contender, passed away due to a “mysterious illness”, having disclosed just prior thereto his declining health. Johnson was slated to return for a fight this year, yet his health complications barred it from going through. Overall, for the occasion, there were Winners and Losers.

Winners and Losers

Adesanya unfortunately wasn’t victorious in the octagon, yet his wallet took a different outcome. In accordance with UFC data, his take-home pay was estimated around $1.79 million, which was comprised of $1 million for the appearance, $750,000 in PPV sales and $42,000 in sponsorships. Pereira too had her share of the rewards, supposedly earning around $932,000 for the fight, being the sum of $500,000 for accepting the fight, $300,000 in PPV sales, $100,000 for winning, $32,000 in sponsorships, and a $50,000 “performance” bonus. Simultaneously, Esparza received an estimated $542,000, which comprised $500,000 for the appearance, $42,000 from sponsorships and $150,000 in PPV sales. Weili’s salary surpassed the others, being $667,000, since it included $210,000 for the presence, $100,000 for the win, $275,000 from PPV sales, $32,000 in sponsorships, and a $50,000 performance bonus. As for sports betting fan Drake, he wasn’t as successful as the boxers on Saturday night.

Drake, the Canadian rapper, has allegedly lost a shocking $2 million after betting against Adesanya in the UFC 276 bout – twice the amount he initially put down. While this loss may have put a halt to Drake’s winning momentum, he will have an opportunity to recoup his loss on Saturday with the upcoming UFC Fight Night.

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Updated: 23 June 2023
2 min to read

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