Three World Famous Fighters That Love To Gamble

15/10/2024 | by Leon Berg

The planet’s finest fighters are known for their lavish lifestyles. With the amount of money flowing through both the boxing ring and the Octagon and into fighters’ coffers, it’s clear to see why. When you add into that the sheer amount of adrenaline and testosterone flying around, it’s clear that the thrill of the fight game often spills over into other aspects of life.

Betting and fighting are two things that go hand in hand. Back in the days of the Roman Coliseum, spectators would bet on the action unfolding in front of them, and that was some 2,000 years ago. In modern times, it’s the thrill of online sportsbooks and casinos, providing both pre-match and in-play betting on the biggest show-stopping fights. Add to that popular online casino games based on the fight game such as Ring of Riches, and it’s no surprise that the two exciting realms remain intertwined.

Over the years, many fighting sensations have made their love of gambling abundantly clear. Here are three of them.

Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is known for his quick wit and even quicker fists. The brash Irishman has made headlines not just for his fights over the years, but also for his gambling antics. When the Notorious One was making waves in the Octagon a decade ago, he was famously placing longshot parlays on UFC bouts, memorably reeling off one of his many bets in an interview on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

In more recent times, the 36-year-old has been doing the rounds on the online casino circuit. He was recently playing online blackjack for real money on a live stream with one prominent outfit while sipping away on his famous whiskey, Irish stout, and smoking a cigar for good measure. In the blackjack game, he started with a jaw-dropping balance of $750,000 and placed bets up to $10,000 per hand.

With McGregor’s focus on blackjack, it seems an immediate return to the Octagon isn’t on the horizon. Fans are left wondering if his gambling prowess could rival his fighting skills, making for an intriguing crossover between the worlds of sports and blackjack gaming.

The Irish sensation has been out of the Octagon since back-to-back defeats against Dustin Poirier in 2021. Over the last seven years, he has fought just five times, losing four of them. He was slated to make a return against Michael Chandler this summer, but the bout was scrapped. Many have speculated that McGregor’s lavish lifestyle and lack of commitment to training were the reason for the contest not coming to fruition, and it remains to be seen whether he will fight again.

Floyd Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather is without a doubt the greatest boxer of his generation and perhaps the greatest of all time. The Grand Rapids-born star finished his career with a stellar 50-0 record, claiming world championships in no fewer than five different weight classes. Throughout his sensational two-decade-long career, he reeled off victories against a murderer’s row of opponents including the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Shane Moseley, and Oscar De La Hoya.

He holds the record for the four most bought pay-per-views in history, an achievement that secured him well over $1 billion in earnings throughout his stint on top. Aptly then, he was nicknamed ‘Money,’ and he certainly puts those hard-earned Benjamins to good use.

Mayweather’s betting history is as storied as his boxing career, with the now-47-year-old often flaunting his gambling wins on social media. Perhaps his most audacious bet was on himself, opting to become self-promoted rather than working with Bob Arum and duly turning a $750,000 investment into a staggering $770 million career payout. However, his gambling exploits aren’t too bad either.

They include a $1.1 million bet on the Oregon Ducks and a sensational $4.7 million spree on NFL games over a single month in 2014. These bets reflect his confidence both in himself and in his ability to read the odds, traits that also defined his undefeated career in the ring. Money Mayweather loves gambling so much, that he moved to Las Vegas in the late 2000s, where he still resides today.

Dana White

Dana White, the president of the UFC, is not a fighter, but his love for gambling rivals that of any athlete. Known for frequenting Sin City casinos, the Octagon head honcho has been open about his penchant for betting large sums. His gambling tales are part of his larger-than-life persona, contributing to his reputation as a risk-taker who thrives on the edge.

White has made it abundantly clear that sports betting is not for him. He hates the idea of sitting around for three hours and sweating out an NFL bet. Instead, his game is blackjack, and his strategy is a simple one. The 55-year-old heads to either an online blackjack table or a table in one of the hundreds of casinos on the Vegas strip and attempts to bet as much as possible on one hand.
His aim is simple, doubling his money and then walking out. And judging by him being banned from several land-based casinos on the strip, we’d say that he is pretty damn good at it.