Drake: “He needs to be stopped” - Fans back American Top Team's request to Drake to stop betting on their fighters

“He needs to be stopped” - Fans back American Top Team's request to Drake to stop betting on their fighters

Modified Sep 12, 2023 06:34 GMT

A few American Top Team (ATT) members at the gym (Left); Drake (Right) [*Image courtesy: @americantopteam and @champagnepapi Instagram]

The MMA community has been set abuzz by a request put forth by the world-renowned American Top Team (ATT) gym to Drake. A hip-hop megastar and sports fan, Drake often bets on high-profile sports contests. Speaking of which, a rather peculiar phenomenon known as the 'Drake Curse' has seemingly turned him into a jinx for the sportspersons he bets on.

Certain sections of the sports world, including fans in the MMA realm believe that the athlete that Drake bets on goes on to lose their match. Thus far, the Drake Curse has affected some of the UFC's biggest stars such as Conor McGregor, longtime American Top Team (ATT) member Jorge Masvidal, and most recently, Israel Adesanya.

Heading into the UFC 293 PPV that transpired last Saturday, Drake reportedly bet around $500,000 on Adesanya to KO Sean Strickland. Nevertheless, the curse seemed to strike again as massive betting underdog Strickland upset 'The Last Stylebender' via unanimous decision to become the new UFC middleweight champion.

The American Top Team (ATT) gym -- one of the most famous MMA camps in the world -- has now tweeted that Drake ought to refrain from betting on ATT fighters. The Florida-based gym has put forth the following tweet via its Twitter (X) account:

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Several MMA fans agreed with American Top Team's tweet regarding Drake and lightheartedly suggested that the Canadian rapper should stop jinxing fighters by betting on them. One fan jestingly tweeted:

Many fans jokingly indicated that the Drake Curse is indeed real and that his betting on an athlete to win brings the athlete bad luck. Alternatively, some fans jested that Drake should continue betting so that they'd know to bet on the athlete's opponent.

Did American Top Team star's recent upset loss influence ATT's Drake tweet?

One of the most popular ATT fighters who's still active in the UFC is none other than former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier. 'The Diamond' holds victories over top-tier fighters such as Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, and Max Holloway.

However, in Poirier's last fight -- a rematch against Gaethje for the BMF title in July 2023 -- he was defeated by Gaethje via second-round KO.

The aforementioned loss was viewed by many as an upset, as Poirier had previously beaten Justin Gaethje via fourth-round TKO in April 2018. On that note, there's been speculation that ATT's recent request to Drake to not bet on their fighters could be an allusion to Poirier being the betting favorite against Gaethje and losing regardless.

All things considered, this isn't the first time that Drake has been called out for purportedly jinxing fighters with his bets. Moreover, it's possible that he could continue betting regardless.

About the author

Johny Payne is a featured writer at Sportskeeda, specializing in MMA coverage. He also studies and trains in various martial arts, constantly seeking to enhance his combat skills, especially in unarmed combat. His love for writing about MMA stems from his appreciation of the sport as one of the purest forms of legal unarmed combat sports competition in this day and age. Johny has also covered pro wrestling in the past.

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