Conor McGregor lost a staggering $500,000 after betting on Francis Ngannou to be knocked out in his MMA comeback fight.
Ngannou, returning to MMA after nearly three years, faced off against PFL heavyweight champ Renan Ferreira in Riyadh on Saturday night. McGregor, who hasn’t stepped into the octagon himself for over three years, confidently shared his bet on social media before the bout began, wagering half a million dollars on Ferreira.
McGregor boasted: “Hello, folks, The Notorious Conor McGregor here. Fight night, fight night, fight night… the Mac is back with his winning bets. I have a 100 percent winning ratio on this bet.
“Ngannou is losing by KO tonight. 12/5 the Brazilian is to knock him out and I’m putting half a million on it and I’m going to win back $1.7 million ($2.2 million). That’s it. It’s a ruthless business and I’m a ruthless man.”
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However, Ngannou swiftly dispatched Ferreira in under four minutes with a ground-and-pound finish, forcing the referee to intervene and stop the fight. After the loss, McGregor reacted on social media, stating: “The rich get richer, I’ll get that back.”
McGregor recently celebrated a series of successful bets, raking in over $8m in a single week during the summer when he backed Spain to win Euro 2024. The Spaniards’ victory over England in the final earned the former two-weight UFC champion $1m, while Argentina’s triumph over Colombia in the Copa America final netted him $365,000.
An incredible treble bet on those two teams to win and Carlos Alcaraz to lift the Wimbledon trophy saw him pocket $4m. In addition, McGregor backed his old rival Nate Diaz to defeat Jorge Masvidal in their boxing match, which he did, earning the Dubliner $1.6m.
Francis Ngannou reacts as he enters the arena ahead of the Heavyweight World Title fight between Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira as part of the PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants card at Kingdom Arena on October 19, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (
Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images)
Earlier this month, McGregor won $200,000 from a $1m wager on UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereria, who defeated Khalil Rountree to retain his belt. Perhaps McGregor thought Ngannou would struggle with ring rust in his first MMA fight since defending his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in 2022 and chose to switch to the boxing ring, where he was narrowly defeated by Tyson Fury and then knocked out by Anthony Joshua.
Meanwhile, McGregor is nearing four years without a fight as he prepares for his anticipated return to the UFC next year. He was scheduled to face Michael Chandler this summer but had to withdraw due to a broken toe just two weeks before the bout in Las Vegas.
Chandler, tired of waiting for a rescheduled match, will now face Charles Oliveira in a rematch at UFC 309 in New York next month. Meanwhile, McGregor announced last weekend that he plans to make his comeback against Dan Hooker in Saudi Arabia in February, although no official agreement has been reached yet.
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