" I hate betting on sports" - UFC president Dana White recalls losing $1 million bet on a boxing match
Dana White recently revealed that he once lost a whopping $1 million betting on a boxing match between Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik. In a recent appearance on the Full Send podcast, the UFC president recalled the worst experience he's ever had related to sports betting and why he doesn't gamble on live sports.
In 2007, Jermain Taylor defended his WBO and WBC middleweight titles against Pavlik and Dana White was so sure of Taylor's chances of winning, he wagered $1 million on it. Taylor was the favorite to win the fight and defend the titles successfully like he had done four times before the bout against Pavlik. However, the underdog had a surprise in store for both Taylor and Dana White:
“The biggest sports bet? $1million. I lost. I f***ing hate betting on sports. Hate it, hate it. Remember Jermain Taylor, the boxer? Good looking f***ing kid came up through the Olympics and married the volleyball player. He fought that white kid and I thought Jermain Taylor was going to kill him. Jermain Taylor got destroyed. I was in Cabo, relaxing having fun. That ruined my fun. Ruined my whole trip,” White said.
Kelly Pavlik overcame huge adversity to win the fight against Jermain Taylor. After being dropped early in the fight, he recovered and went on to win the fight via TKO in the seventh round. It was later revealed that Taylor was ahead on the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
Dana White reveals why he upgraded Logan Paul's tickets at UFC 264
Dana White revealed he had to upgrade Logan Paul's tickets for UFC 264 to save him from getting "smashed" by MMA fans attending the event. Paul had apparently bought tickets that would have him seated among the general crowd present at the show.
White said he upgraded Paul's tickets to the VIP section amid other UFC fighters and celebrities to save him from the wrath of fans:
“He bought a bunch of tickets to the fight and the tickets he bought were not tickets he’d want to sit in. He was going to get smashed. So I put him over in another section. That was the only time we ever talked, was about the tickets,” Dana White said.