Self professed ‘degenerate gambler’ UFC president Dana White is no stranger to making big bets, and was famously thrown out of the Palms casino for winning a few too many at the blackjack table.
When it comes to sports betting, White is a little more conservative after losing a million dollar bet on a Jermain Taylor vs. Kelly Pavlik boxing bout back in 2007. But it seems like his confidence is climbing back up. He was smart enough to pass on betting a million bucks on Ben Askren beating Jake Paul. And now he’s just pocketed over $40,000 off a bet on Saturday’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant fight.
Odds on the Canelo vs. Plant fight were pretty ridiculous, with Canelo the -1000 favorite to Plant’s +600 dog status. But White managed to get in on some decent action: Canelo via KO/TKO at -240. His wager? A cool $100,000.
Dana White’s betting stub for the Canelo vs. Plant fight. Dana bet $100,000 on Canelo via KO/TKO at -240 and won $41,666 pic.twitter.com/eHBJFQNDbP
— MMA mania (@mmamania) November 7, 2021
White made no secret of the fact that he was watching Canelo vs. Plant on a monitor while Rose Namajunas and Zhang Weili battled it out right in front of him at UFC 268 in Madison Square Garden. And we bet the big boss was sweating as time went on, not because “Thug Rose” vs. “Magnum” was so close but because it took Canelo until the 11th of 12 rounds to finally put the defensively impressive Plant out via TKO (watch the highlights here).
After the event, White sounded annoyed that he had to spread his attention out between the two fights. The last time the UFC and Canelo went head to head during UFC 244, Canelo stayed in his locker room until after the Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz fight. But the Mexican superstar wasn’t too impressed about how that went down, and with two title fights to go at UFC 268, it wasn’t really an option this time.
Dana White watching #CaneloPlant during #UFC268 at Madison Square Garden. pic.twitter.com/qb5hQ4ixIN
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 7, 2021
“I think they’re insane to go the same night as us. It literally doesn’t make sense,” White said at the UFC 268 post-fight press conference. “[Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza]’s an asshole, so that doesn’t surprise me. I think it was a bad idea. And they charged, like, $80 for it. The thing was $80.”
(Unlike UFC 268, which was $69.99 on top of a $6.99 a month subscription. Not that we don’t get more bang for our buck than boxing. Just sayin’.)
Dana was asked if he paid for the Canelo fight #UFC268 pic.twitter.com/Lye9iTqMEE
— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) November 7, 2021
“But I like Canelo. I watched the fight. I bet on Canelo, that’s why I watched the fight. I bet $100,000 on him to win by knockout.”