Following a solid slate of contests on the preliminary card, action at RAC Arena shifted to pay-per-view and business picked up straight away, making the UFC 305 main card one of the most entertaining of the year.

From a streaking rookie adding to his impressive start and a Top 10 heavyweight collecting a surprising split decision win to City Kickboxing representatives earning consecutive victories to set up the middleweight championship main event, the anticipation in the arena was palpable by the time the main event got underway.

But then Dricus Du Plessis made sure to prevent it from being a run of three straight, securing his first successful middleweight title defense, submitting Israel Adesanya in the fourth round to retain his title.

Drake has been known to place large bets on sporting events, and the UFC is often the subject of his biggest wagers.

ChampagnePapi is back at it, and he’s betting on one of his personal favorites to win. Drake took to Instagram to share the betting slip for a $450,000 wager on Israel Adesanya to defeat Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday night in Perth, Australia, to win the UFC middleweight title for the third time.

Drake captioned the post, “Always with Izzy.” If Adesanya wins, the wager will pay Drake $850,000.

The fight, which is the main event of UFC 305, is currently listed as a pick-em and easily the closest from an odds standpoint of any fight on the main card.

In the past, Drake has won and lost betting on Adesanya.

He lost $2 million on the former UFC middleweight champion in November 2022 when Drake picked Adesanya to defeat Alex Pereira. Pereira stopped Adesanya in that meeting, but the latter won the rematch.

Drake cashed in on Adesanya’s revenge win while losing money betting on Jorge Masvidal to defeat Gilbert Burns on the same card.

Drake won with Adesanya earlier in the year when he placed a bet on the Last Stylebender to defeat Jared Cannonier. Drake won $1 million on that wager.

While Adesanya appears to be Drake’s favorite fighter overall and one of his main athletes to bet on, the iconic Canadian rapper is no stranger to dropping tons of cash on the UFC in general.

Drake bet $275,000 on Masvidal to beat Colby Covington. Masvidal lost that fight at UFC 272 in March 2022 via unanimous decision.

In May 2022, Drake lost $427,000 when he bet on Justin Gaethje to defeat Charles Oliveira at UFC 274 in May 2022. Oliveira submitted Gaethje in the first round.

In one of the craziest upsets in recent UFC history, Leon Edwards snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a head-kick KO win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August 2022. Usman had dominated the first four rounds and was up on all the scorecards before Edwards landed the telling blow.

Drake had bet $200,000 on Usman.

Let’s end on a positive note for Drake. In July 2022 at UFC London, Drake bet $2.3 million in a parlay on Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann. Pimblett and McCann won, and Drake’s wager paid out just under $3.7 million.

Drake also gifted Pimblett and McCann Rolex watches for their efforts. I know Kendrick Lamar spent the entire summer telling Drake this, but when you see how much money the latter bet in 2022 alone, it’s clear he’s the one who is not like most of us.

“I guess you lose some and you win some, as long as the outcome is income.”

That might be the best way for Drake to describe his betting history when it comes to backing former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and he’s once again riding with “The Last Stylebender” ahead of his next fight.

The high profile rapper who loves placing wagers on UFC fights has never gone against Adesanya, although that strategy has resulted in some big losses for his bank account in the past. That won’t stop Drake from backing Adesanya once again as he prepares to face Dricus du Plessis in the UFC 305 main event on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Canadian born superstar showed off his latest wager after putting down $450,000 on Adesanya to win and reclaim the 185-pound title in the main event from Perth, Australia. If Drake hits his wager, he’ll get back $855,000 in a fight that’s basically become a pick ‘em with oddsmakers just hours before Adesanya and du Plessis hit the octagon.

Adesanya was slightly favored leading into fight week but those odds have shifted back and forth several times ahead of one of the most anticipated middleweight title bouts in recent history.

Of course, Drake has a long history wagering on sports — in particular the UFC — and his misses often get more attention than his hits with a long running joke called “The Drake Curse” plaguing the athletes or teams he backs with his wagers.

In fact a website launched detailing Drake’s biggest wins and losses as a sports bettor, which includes Adesanya suffering a pair of losses as the favorite with the rapper putting down money on him ahead of the fight. His biggest financial setback came when he bet on Adesanya to beat Alex Pereira back at UFC 281 with the rapper losing over $1.59 million.

Overall, Drake is still up when betting on Adesanya with a slim profit of just over $15,000 after putting down nearly $4 million worth of wagers on him.

Will Drake strike gold and raise his profit margin even more after his latest bet on Adesanya?

We’ll have to wait until UFC 305 is over to know for certain.