Dana White has always been a gambling man, he even lives in Las Vegas, but September of 2007 was the first time he had ever made a bet of $1,000,000.
Outside of owning and running the UFC, Dana is best known as a high stakes casino player, but on this occasion, he wagered his money on a sports bet.
A young fighter named Jermain Taylor was defending his WBO and WFC middleweight titles against Kelly Pavlik, and Dana thought there was no way he would lose.
It’s plain to see why, too.
Taylor was undefeated in his career at this point, and had already defended his belts successfully four times, so Dana White watched confidently from his holiday in Cabo, Mexico.
It seemed to be going well for Taylor too, but after a good start things went badly wrong, and Dana ended up losing his bet, which, according to him, also ruined his holiday.
I’m don’t feel too sorry for him, he could still afford to book another one, but it left a sour taste in the UFC boss’s mouth. He has since said that he hates betting on sports, although it hasn’t stopped him doing so again.
How the Bet was Lost
The first round was an exciting one, with both fighters landing some good shots and Kelly utilising his signature jab cross on a number of occasions, catching Taylor out.
Taylor gave as good as he got though, and came out aggressively in the second round, knocking Pavlik knocked down. Taylor had broken through the Ohio born boxer’s defence and unleashed a flurry of punches that should have put the match to bed.
Pavlik somehow managed to recover though, climbing back to his feet and surviving until the bell to make it to round 3.
During the next few rounds, it’s fair to say that most people would have called the fight even, although Taylor was ahead on the scorecards, and you could see both fighters learning the others’ tricks and trying to counter them.
It was a great fight, with both men doing well at different points, but then came round 7.
After absorbing a powerful one two that should never have got through, Taylor looked wobbly, and Pavlik pounced on his disorientated opponent. Taylor was forced into the corner, only half able to defend himself, as Pavlik finished him off with a couple of combinations and the referee stepped in to end the fight.
I reckon White’s head was probably hurting just as much as Jermaine Taylor’s the morning after, when he woke up to remember he had just lost $1 million backing an undefeated world champion.