Drake misses out on $1.3 million payout after Dricus Du Plessis hits the rapper with $700k loss at UFC 297

Dricus Du Plessis won the UFC middleweight title at UFC 297 with a closely contested split decision victory over Sean Strickland. Du Plessis, the betting underdog used his pressure to sway the judge’s scorecard in his favor.

In the co-main event of UFC 297, Raquel Pennington was crowned the new women’s bantamweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Mayra Bueno Silva. Preluding UFC 297, both women had picked Du Plessis to be crowned middleweight channel mainly due to Strickland’s misogynistic remarks.

Dricus Du Plessis claiming middleweight title leaves Drake with $700k loss

Canadian musician Drake lost $700k at UFC 297 as he bet on Sean Strickland to prevail over Dricus Du Plessis. Drake is known for betting huge amounts on popular fights. Before UFC 297, he bet big on Leon Edwards to KO Colby Covington which also did not come to fruition. Drake also bet big on Jake Paul to KO Dillon Danis which he won as Paul won via DQ, and DQ is considered a knockout as per betting policies.

Du Plessis was the underdog for the fight, albeit slightly but used his pressure fighting style to ultimately claim a split decision victory. Only judge Sal D’Amato scored 3-2 in favor of Sean Strickland with Derek Cleary and Eric Colon having rounds 2,3 and 4 for Du Plessis.

The fight won the Fight of the Night bonus, and it was pretty self-explanatory as the duo gave all they had inside the octagon by the end of the fifth round. It needs to be noted that the fight was extremely close, with UFC CEO Dana White having Sean Strickland winning the fight 3 rounds to 2.

Du Plessis calls out Israel Adesanya after title win

Dricus Du Plessis did not waste time in naming his next opponent for the first defense of his newly acquired middleweight title. Du Plessis who already has a beef with former champion Israel Adesanya called the Kiwi fighter out during his octagon interview.

“It was another guy who tried to take my shine, but he lost his shine. Now, I have your shine. You didn’t get into the cage tonight, but Israel Adesanya, get your ass back in the UFC so we can settle the score,” said Du Plessis in his octagon interview with Daniel Cormier.

Du Plessis also expressed his interest in fighting Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title but he felt that the UFC will not be going into that direction. Moreover, Khamzat Chimaev, who defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, also expressed his interest in a fight for the middleweight title.

“See you soon biplisi ufc300 🫡” tweeted Chimaev immediately after Dricus Du Plessis was declared the winner at UFC 297. It needs to be noted that Dana White had promised a title shot for the winner of Usman vs Chimaev at UFC 294.

Who do you think will fight Dricus Du Plessis next? Leave your prediction below!