Drake wins massive bet on UFC 331 fighter that he had no idea existed
Drake won a whopping $1.1million betting on a fighter he hadn't heard of at UFC 331 on Saturday night.
The main card in Las Vegas was headlined by Joshua Van, who secured a dominant victory via unanimous decision against Alexandre Pantoja to retain his flyweight title at UFC 331.
Van outstruck Pantoja and successfully defended double-digit takedown attempts and even dropped Pantoja in round five en route to an excellent victory over the former champion, with Drake profiting massively from the 24-year-old's win.
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Drake won $1.1million on Joshua Van beating Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 331
Rap superstar Drake is known for 'cursing' athletes and sports teams in a trend that has gone crazy over the years.
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Any time 'Champagne Papi' posed with a famous athlete or gave his support, he would then be blamed for the outcome if they lost.
That was the case in December when the 39-year-old placed a $200,000 (£149k) bet on Jake Paul to beat Anthony Joshua in their heavyweight showdown.
Unfortunately for Drake, Paul couldn't pull off arguably the biggest upset in boxing history, and instead sustained a broken jaw as Joshua produced a dominant sixth-round knockout victory.
More recently, Drake lost $1million after betting on Conor McGregor to beat Max Holloway on his UFC comeback after the Irishman suffered a leg injury inside 69 seconds and the referee was forced to waive off the fight.
On Saturday night, 'The Iceman' tried his luck on UFC once more, but instead of doing his research before placing a bet on Van, he admitted he didn't know who he was.
"I don’t know bro… but he better win,” Drake wrote alongside his UFC 331 bet slip after placing a whopping $650,000 wager on the 24-year-old.
Luckily for the rap superstar, he walked away with just under $1.1million after Van won by unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 49–46, 49–47, and 50–45 in favor of Van after five rounds of action at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Joshua Van issues defiant message after beating Alexandre Pantoja
In December at UFC 323, Van beat Brazilian Pantoja in December 2025 after Pantoja suffered an accidental elbow dislocation 26 seconds into the fight.
The first UFC champion born in the 2000s then defended the belt against Tatsuro Taira in May, but can now claim to be the best in the division after soundly beating the veteran.
Van silenced the doubters emphatically at UFC 331, landing significant damage while escaping most grappling entanglements. He even attempted a submission of his own, but the former champ managed to get out of it.
"A lot of people say that was an accident win the first time,” Van said in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
“Now, doubt me now. Shout out to Pantoja. Nothing but respect for me. He's a tough man. He's hard to finish. I did my submission, but I don't know how the hell he got out of that.
"I usually, with that move, I get everybody in the gym, but I don't know how the hell he got out of that.”
Thomas Griffin