It took Jon Jones just over two minutes to prove to the world that the Drake Curse doesn’t work on everyone. Jones was back in action for the first time in three years. And a lot of people had written him off.
Yet, when he got into the ring against Ciryl Gane to fight for the UFC Heavyweight title, Jones didn’t look like someone who had been away for three years. He looked fresh, energetic, experienced, and dangerous.
An Easy Win for Jones
Some sportsbooks and MMA commentators were favoring Gane to win due to Jones’ long absence from the Octagon. When it came to action, however, Jon didn’t look like someone who’s been away for a lengthy period.
If anything, Gane looked like he had never fought inside the UFC ever. He looked timid, unprepared, and unwilling to fight. Indeed, Jones won the bout as if he was battling a much weaker opponent.
That’s good news for MMA bettors. You can bet on Jones in his next match—he’s pitching for a fight against Stipe Miocic later in July. Of course, don’t bet blindly. Read this state by stake breakdown to find the best legal betting sites. Then analyze the match extensively before it takes place.
Bones might be the favorite in the upcoming match. But something may happen that could turn Stipe into the favorite.
Overcoming the Drake Curse
Before UFC 285, some people thought Jones would be the next victim of the Drake Curse. What’s the Drake curse? It’s a running joke in the sports world centered on the belief that athletes or teams supported by rapper Drake tend to lose important games.
See, Drake likes to associate himself with successful athletes and teams. He’s constantly hanging out with NBA players, betting on Serena Williams, and attending soccer matches in Europe.
Unfortunately, every time Drake declares support for a team or athlete, the team or athlete loses. It happened when the rapper backed Conor McGregor to beat Khabib in the UFC.
It happened again when Drake supported the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA finals. Then he supported Israel Adesanya to beat Alex Pereira. None of these bets were ever successful.
Then came Jon Jones. Drake wagered two bets worth $500,000: half the amount on a win by submission and half on the American to win via submission. Jones won by submission, turning the rapper’s stake into a $1.7 million profit.
Is the Drake Curse Over?
Jon Jones’ victory against Ciryl Gane proves the Drake Curse doesn’t always work. However, the curse has been going on for such a long time that it’s likely we haven’t seen the end of it. Here’s why:
Drake Follows the Hype
When you look at Drake’s bets in the past few years, he hasn’t wagered on any underdog. His strategy is simple. He bets on whichever athlete or team seems to be getting a lot of attention online.
It’s not the worst betting strategy, really. But it’s not a good technique, either. When he bet on Jake Paul to beat Tommy Fury, he was hoping the YouTuber would continue with his winning streak.
Drake didn’t consider the fact that Tommy is a true boxer while Jake is not. He didn’t care that Fury was getting training from the world’s best heavyweight boxer—his brother Tyson Fury. The rapper just paid attention to Jake’s hype heading to the fight.
Drake Bets on His Friends
Another common theme with Drake’s bets is that they’re always in favor of his friends. The ‘God’s Plan’ hitmaker never seems to wager money on someone he doesn’t like. He bets on people he’s friends with.
That’s a terrible approach to sports betting. In gambling, it doesn’t matter what teams or athletes you like. What’s important are the facts of the competition—form, injuries, records, and motivation.
Drake doesn’t seem to care a lot about facts when placing his bets. If he did, he would have won a lot more matches. For example, Alex Pereira had defeated Israel Adesanya twice before joining the UFC. As such, he was always going to beat the Kiwi.
Then there’s the Tommy Fury bout we mentioned earlier, the World Cup final last year, and Conor’s fight. We won’t act like it’s easy to predict a sports match. However, Drake has made a lot of bets any half-decent gambler wouldn’t.
Drake loves High-Risk Bets
Drake doesn’t always lose because of making terrible bets. For example, he had correctly predicted Argentina would win the soccer World Cup in Qatar last year. The only problem with his prediction is that Argentina won the competition in extra time.
Betting sites only consider the results of a match after 90 minutes. And Argentina was tying France 2-2 before the officials added 30 more minutes. Had Drake placed a bet on Over 2.5 or goal-goal, he would have won.
With his bets on Jones, Drake took another huge risk. He didn’t just predict that Bones would win. He also selected the method of victory. In one bet, he said Jones would win through submission. And in a second wager, he selected a KO.
Had Jones won through decision points, Drakes was still going to lose the bet. In other words, he isn’t always a terrible bettor. He just takes more risks than the typical gambler.
Drake’s Luck
People lose sports bets all the time. But Drake seems to have a much terrible form of bad luck. Sometimes he bets on the right athletes and teams. Yet, he ends up being unlucky.
Take his bet on the Miami Heat in 2011. It was a star-studded team featuring Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. Their opponents, the Dallas Mavericks, had one superstar—Dirk Nowitzki. Everyone thought the Heat would win comfortably. Instead, Dallas won the series.
In his bet supporting Serena Williams to beat Roberta Vince, Serena was the highly favored player. She lost. Once again, picking Argentina to beat France was not a bad bet. In fact, the South Americans won. However, things didn’t go in Drake’s favor.
