Drake betting $545K on UFC 314 headliner adds another ‘UFC Curse’ drama for Alexander Volkanovski

Drake betting a massive amount of money on the UFC 314 title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes goes viral.

Drake betting $545K on UFC 314 headliner adds another ‘UFC Curse’ drama for Alexander Volkanovski

Drake bets on UFC 314 main event between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes (Image via UFC.com/Billboard)

UFC PPV events with a stacked fight card always get the fan base excited. Ahead of UFC 314 in Miami, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes remain focused on their task at hand. However, Volkanovski might need to worry about one particular ‘UFC curse’ after Canadian rapper Drake placed a massive bet on him.


The Canadian rapper placed a massive $545,000 bet on Alexander Volkanovski to regain the featherweight title against the challenger. The featherweight GOAT candidate is coming back from back-to-back knockout losses to Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria. Looking in the best physical shape possible, Volk might have more on his plate to overcome. 

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After all, not too long ago, Volk was informed about the other two ‘UFC curses’ that he needs to overcome. The first one is the ‘35-year UFC curse,’ where only a handful of fighters above the age of 35 have won the championship bouts. Most recently, 37-year-old Alex Pereira lost his light heavyweight title to 32-year-old Magomed Ankalaev. 

Another curse that Volk needs to worry about is the ‘Nina Drama curse.’ Nina Marie Danielle is a popular MMA content creator, working to display a lighthearted side of UFC fighters. Collaborating with her has brought bad luck to UFC fighters in recent times. Arman Tsarukyan had to pull out after doing multiple risky workouts with her. 

Middleweight stars Sean Strickland, Shara Magomedov, and Marvin Vettori lost their respective bouts this year after collaborating with Nina Drama. Ahead of UFC 314, Volkanovski has collaborated with her. It has led many fans to believe that a bad outcome is on the way. Now, combine the above UFC curses with the infamous Drake curse, and things may look even scarier for Volk.

Drake has won money on Alexander Volkanovski before

Though fans fear the worst for Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314, the Aussie MMA legend has beaten the Drake Curse before. During the prime of his career, Volk had to unify the featherweight title against interim champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in 2023. As usual, Drake bet on the PPV event with a massive $1 million wager on Volk.

Drake once bet money on Alexander Volkanovski
Drake once bet money on Alexander Volkanovski (Image via X)

At that time, Volk looked unbeatable and even gave Islam Makhachev his toughest fight in the UFC. Many, including Joe Rogan, felt Volk defeated Makhachev at UFC 284, but the judges didn’t see it that way. Fans were worried at that time when Drake bet massive amounts on Volk for UFC 290. However, a prime version of Volkanovski steamrolled through Rodriguez to retain his title.

Drake went on to win nearly $2 million for the bet that he placed on the Aussie MMA fighter. He made a $1 million wager on Volk to retain his featherweight belt. Moreover, the rapper placed another wager on Volk, where he bet his money on the Aussie fighter defeating Rodriguez via knockout. Both of these things happened, and Drake walked away as a very rich man that day.

It appears the rapper sees that as a good sign to bet more money on the featherweight legend. This time, he is expecting a payout of $915,000 from the half a million dollars that he is betting. It is less than what he wagered for back in 2023, but it looks like a calculated bet.

After all, Volkanovski is no longer in his prime, and his durability remains questionable. Diego Lopes can hit hard, and the chin of Volk already gave against Makhachev and Topuria. As such, Drake’s bet belongs to the category of ‘high risk, high reward.’

Related: Is Alexander Volkanovski a chef? Learn about UFC featherweight champ’s impressive cooking skills