- Conor McGregor spent money on an MMA fight
- Francis Ngannou won the fight with a knockout
UFC superstar Conor McGregor suffered a huge betting loss after Francis Ngannou’s impressive first-round knockout victory over Renan Ferreira at Sunday’s PFL event.
McGregor, who is worth an estimated $200 million, announced on social media over the weekend that he would back Renan Ferreira to knock out Ngannou.
What’s more, he was betting $745,000 ($500,000) on the outcome and posted a photo of his digital betting slip as proof.
“It’s a ruthless business and I’m a ruthless man,” he explained.
Unfortunately for ‘The Notorious’, Ngannou pulverized Ferreira in the first round to be crowned PFL Super Luchas heavyweight champion.
It is not the first time that the Irishman has bet big on combat sports, as McGregor bet $745,000 on his old rival Nate Diaz beating Jorge Masvidal in a boxing match.
“I have decided to bet $500,000 (US) on Diaz to win tonight’s boxing match,” McGregor posted on X ahead of the July event.
‘Reach, form, experience, using only his hands, I can’t imagine Masvidal giving Nate any problems in a boxing ring. They both play with jerks in a fight, they play with nonsense, but I feel like Nate really makes it EASY here. With $500,000 I get back $1,625,000 in total.’
Conor McGregor bet $745,000 on Renan Ferreira to win on Sunday, and it didn’t take long for the former UFC heavyweight champion to prove the bet was a shocking mistake.
Francis Ngannou (left) produced a stunning KO over Ferreira in the first round of their PFL fight (pictured)
In that case, McGregor cashed in on his big bet.
Ngannou followed up his impressive knockout of Ferreira by dedicating the touching victory to his late son, Kobe.
‘I only did this fight for him. “I wanted to fight for him… I hope you can remember his name, because without Kobe, we wouldn’t be here tonight,” he said of his 15-month-old son in a post-fight interview.
Kobe died in April after doctors could not detect a brain malformation.
A day earlier, Ngannou told CNN that Kobe was “a brave guy.”
“He came as a king and left as a king,” Ngannou continued. He was just something special. For some reason, he couldn’t live anymore. I had to watch it many times and I was impressed. I couldn’t believe it came from me.’
‘The Predator’ cut an emotional figure after the fight before dedicating the victory to his late son Kobe.
After some strong initial kicks from both fighters, Ngannou, who had not fought in mixed martial arts since January 2022, took the fight to the canvas and eventually got behind his Brazilian opponent, landing a series of hard-hitting punches to end the fight. fight with 88 seconds left. in the first round.
“This fight for me was also a way to find out if I could still fight, if I still have it,” he said. “If I can deal with this, with the pressure, with the fight week, with the media and everything.”
Saturday’s event broke from the PFL’s usual format of regular season and playoffs to host a series of ‘super fights’ with belts on the line as Ngannou returned to the sport where he made his name after a foray into the world of boxing.
