5 UFC fighters who admitted to betting on themselves to win in the octagon
Right now, gambling is a hot and controversial topic in the UFC, with talks of a clampdown on fighters making any bets following the recent James Krause scandal.
Plenty of UFC fighters have admitted to betting on themselves to win their fights, though, ranging from high-level contenders to entry-level prospects. In one sense, it’s hard to pick fault with this. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a fighter showing confidence in their skills, and it’s hardly a bet that’s ripe for abuse.
On the other hand, of course, instances of athletes involved in gambling within their own sport are always a little murky, and these examples are no exception.
Here are five UFC fighters who admitted to betting on themselves, or at least planning to do so, to win their fights.
#5. Jordan Leavitt – UFC lightweight
Lightweight prospect Jordan Leavitt might be best known by UFC fans for losing to Paddy Pimblett in an entertaining fight last summer, but ‘The Monkey King’ was on a solid two-fight winning run prior to that bout.
Interestingly enough, Leavitt was so confident of beating Trey Ogden in their April 2022 clash that it became apparent that he’d bet on himself to do so. The most remarkable thing about this example is that Leavitt’s bet came to light prior to the event, meaning he’d have been left with egg on his face had he come away with a loss.
Essentially, a gambler on Twitter who was using a website called BetMMATips spotted that ‘The Monkey King’ had placed the bet on himself.
Leavitt even went further in his explanation, suggesting that he felt he would win the fight 60% of the time, which would’ve made him a -150 favorite. Instead, most oddsmakers had him as a +110 underdog.
Jordan Leavitt betting on himself and mentioning implied odds while capping himself at 60% is actually pretty dope and refreshing.
No "There's no way I lose this fight" like we hear from everybody else, just the ole "You have a 15% edge betting me this week". Dope. #UFCVegas51 twitter.com/Piglordmma/sta… https://t.co/wtHJ9ARfgh
Thankfully for both his reputation – and bank balance – ‘The Monkey King’ came through. He defeated Ogden via split decision, taking his overall record at the time to 10-1.
#4. Eryk Anders – UFC middleweight
Eryk Anders has always come off as a confident fighter, despite lacking experience when he arrived in the UFC in 2017.
Still, it’s arguable that ‘Ya Boi’ was a little too confident when he revealed he was planning to bet on himself to defeat fellow middleweight prospect Junyong Park in their clash in May 2022.
Prior to the bout, Anders was happy to claim that he felt that the bookmakers had gotten things wrong with their assessment of his chances. ‘Ya Boi’ found out that he was a +180 underdog going into the fight, stating that he intended to “put a thousand on it” to go towards his post-fight drinking tab.
Evidently, the bookmakers liked Anders’ confidence. Hours after he revealed his intention to bet on himself, his odds of winning were shortened – but only to +160, meaning he was still the underdog.
As it turned out, those oddsmakers were probably correct. Anders wasn’t in the best form coming into the bout and had won just once in his last four outings.
Despite the fight being a close one over three rounds, the judges ended up handing Park a decision when all was said and done, perhaps costing Anders his drinking money in the process.
#3. James Vick – former UFC lightweight contender
Back in 2017, it’s fair to say that lightweight contender James Vick was on a roll. He’d put together a strong record of 7-1 going into that November’s UFC 217, with his only loss coming at the hands of high-level contender Beneil Dariush.
‘The Texecutioner’ was understandably confident in himself, then, when he freely stated in an interview with ESPN that he would bet on himself every time he fought. Vick claimed that he didn’t bet crazy amounts, but would “always bet the maximum limit.”
UFC 217 saw him stop Joseph Duffy, probably winning him some extra cash, but his betting system caught up with him in his first headline bout in the octagon.
Faced with Justin Gaethje, arguably the hardest hitter in the lightweight division, Vick claimed that he was waiting until the last minute to place his bet on himself. This was, according to ‘The Texecutioner’, because he was coming in as a -160 favorite and felt the odds would come down as fight time came closer.
Waiting for the odds to come down on me then gonna bet the house! #Vickspicks #Futureworldchampion twitter.com/Jon_Anik/statu…
If they indeed did, though, it didn’t help Vick. He suffered a devastating first-round knockout at the hands of ‘The Highlight’ and hasn’t won since, with a further three losses in the octagon seeing him released from the UFC in 2019.
#2. Justin Jaynes – former UFC lightweight
Perhaps the most bizarre instance of a UFC fighter betting on himself to win involves lightweight Justin Jaynes. Quite what possessed ‘The Guitar Hero’ to make such a risky bet is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say that it didn’t pay off.
Jaynes was riding a three-fight losing streak in the UFC prior to his 2021 clash with Charles Rosa. He had also been stopped in all three of those bouts. Still, that didn’t stop him from announcing that he was betting his entire fight purse – a reported $25,000 – on himself to defeat ‘Boston Strong’.
Jaynes was happy to admit that his career was probably on the line in the clash, but despite being a +150 underdog, he took to Instagram to hit out at his critics.
‘The Guitar Hero’ claimed he “didn’t give a f*ck” what his doubters thought and tagged his post by saying “Believe in yourself.”
Unfortunately for Jaynes, the self-belief didn’t work as well as he’d have hoped. He lost the bout via split decision and it later came to light that the defeat had been enough for the UFC to cut him from his contract – on his birthday.
#1. Dustin Poirier – UFC lightweight
The biggest UFC star to admit to betting on himself is lightweight contender Dustin Poirier.
‘The Diamond’ has pulled off huge victories in his career with the promotion, beating the likes of Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler.
However, despite reportedly making well over $5 million for his second win over ‘The Notorious’ in the summer of 2021, Poirier was happy to admit to wagering on himself in a recent interview.
Dustin Poirier: UFC’s MMA betting ban ‘saved me some money’
(Interview by @TheEddieMercado) bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/8/23543…
In a hilarious moment, ‘The Diamond’ first stated that he’d bet on McGregor to beat Chandler if his former foes were to face off. He quickly backtracked when he realized that betting on fighting was now banned following the James Krause scandal.
Poirier then stated that he always used to bet on fights and would’ve lost money on the Sean O’Malley vs. Petr Yan clash had he wagered on that one.
He went on to admit that he would regularly bet on himself to win, although he did claim that the amounts he would bet were small, saying, “$200 here, couple hundred.”
Given the nature of some of his payouts, then, it’s likely that if Poirier did win – or lose – any money betting on himself, it probably didn’t make too much of a dent in his bank balance.
And given what he stated in the interview, that he understands that betting could be seen as “insider trading” of sorts, it seems unlikely that he’ll be making any more similar wagers in the future.