Drake Places $700K Bet on Sean Strickland to Beat Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Jessica Hardy
Published Mar 23, 2026
Outside of the people directly involved, nobody may have more riding on the outcome of UFC 297's main event than Drake.
The rapper wagered $700,000 on Sean Strickland to successfully defend his middleweight title against Dricus du Plessis. A Strickland victory would net him a nearly $1.4 million payout.
br_betting @br_bettingDrake bet $700K on Sean Strickland to beat Dricus Du Plessis tonight 😳 <br><br>(via <a href="">@Drake</a>) <a href="">
Strickland upset Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 to reign supreme over the middleweight division. He's carrying a three-fight winning streak into Saturday night's bout.
A win for the 32-year-old is no sure thing, though.
Du Plessis has a 20-2 overall record and is unbeaten in six fights since debuting in UFC in 2020. Each of his last two wins came via a second-round TKO.
A title change could easily take place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
As the adage goes, you have to spend money to make money. For Drake, there are certainly less risky ways to invest $700k.
