UFC champ Israel Adesanya predicted Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes would win Super Bowl 58 MVP honours and was willing to put some money where his mouth was.
Like many of the world’s top athletes, Israel Adesanya was reduced to a fan on Sunday night while watching the Kansas City Chiefs face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58 at the Allegiant Stadium.
It’s unclear where the Stylebender was when the game happened, but you bet he was watching it closely. That’s because Adesanya sprinkled some cash on the Super Bowl 58 MVP prop bet, placing his money on Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes to win his third Super Bowl MVP award.
At 2.2 odds or +120 using the American Moneyline odds, Mahomes had a 45.5% implied probability of winning the award. Because of that Adesanya bet $20,000 AUD on Mahomes via Stake two days before the game.
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On Sunday night, Adesanya walked away with a payout of $44,000 AUD as Mahomes led the Chiefs to a thrilling 25-22 overtime win over the 49ers. The two-time NFL MVP completed 34 out of 46 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Mahomes threw the game-winning TD pass to Mercole Hardman from three yards out and with time running out in the overtime period.
The 49ers opened the game with a 10-0 lead and were up by a touchdown 10-3 at the end of the first half. But Mahomes slowly worked his magic and Kelce came up big in the second half with massive catches as the Chiefs forced overtime. San Francisco drove to a field goal to take a 3-point lead in OT but Mahomes had the last drive and the last laugh.
Adesanya captioned his IG post with “I got the side bets on this Super Bowl but the main bet is what I come home to.”
Well, Izzy didn’t reveal how much money he bet on the game and who he bet for. But considering he picked Mahomes to win MVP, he likely bet on the Chiefs and won too.
The Stylebender has been training and hitting the pads in anticipation of his next call-up from the UFC.
The two-time UFC middleweight champion and former Hex Fight Series middleweight king has not fought since losing the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last September. He is rumored to be the first challenger for current 185-pound champion Dricus Du Plessis who recently wrested the belt from Strickland.
Adesanya’s buddy and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski recently predicted that Izzy is going to get the first crack at Du Plessis. Let’s hope that Volk is right on that one just as Adesanya was right in picking Patrick Mahomes to win the Super Bowl 58 MVP award.