The MMA Fighters Who Enjoy Casino Gaming
MMA is almost as popular as boxing and professional wrestling when it comes to combat sports, and the industry is worth billions – from pay=per-views, merchandise, and sponsorship deals. In fact, the UFC has a $10 billion market cap on the NYSE, making It an extremely lucrative career choice for those who have what it takes to win big in the octagon.
While most MMA fighters might have a little bet on themselves to win their next match, others are more likely to be found playing poker online in a live casino or even playing in Vegas when they have the chance.
Before we check out some of the famous MMA casino players, let’s have a look at what MMA is and why it has become such a big deal.
A Fast Guide to MMA
MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts, and it describes a full contact combat sport that combines aspects of various martial arts to create a match where striking, grappling and ground fighting techniques are used.
The Roots of MMA
Full contact fights have been popular throughout human history, with bare knuckle boxing and various other no-rules fights happening around the world. In the early 20th Century, there were two main places where different fighting styles were being used – contests in East Asia and especially Japan pitted proponents of different martial arts against one another, while in Brazil, unrestricted fights known as vale tudo took place, combining jiu jitsu, catch wrestling, capoeira, and muay Thai.
In the 1990s, the Gracie family introduced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to America and were instrumental in founding the UFC, which held it’s first competition in 1993. The UFC promotion was originally intended to replicate vale tudo fighting – with almost no rules. The UFC idea was that the competition would pit champions in different fighting styles against one another to find which one would be the most effective to use in real unarmed combat.
It wasn’t long before individual fighters began incorporating multiple martial arts into their personal fighting styles, and additional rules were added for safety, but also to allow for regulation and more mainstream acceptance.
Today, the biggest company in the sport remains the UFC, with their massive pay-per-view events garnering attention in every corner of the globe and earning multiple millions every single night.
MMA Gamers
With that bit of knowledge out of the way, here are some of the biggest names in MMA that also enjoy casino gaming, particularly online gambling in UAE.
Dana White
You can’t mention the UFC without mentioning Dana White. The President of the UFC started out as a fighter himself, training to become a boxer from the age of 17. White helped brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta buy the UFC and was named President -and since then has been instrumental in taking the business to dizzying new heights.
Dana White is a very shrewd blackjack player, known for not only playing in high stakes games, but also playing very successfully much of the time. In fact, his success has meant that the Palm Casino in Las Vegas has banned him following a $5 million win, and other casinos have done similar.
He doesn’t always have all the luck, however – he lost $1 million on a sports bet for Jermain Taylor to beat Kelly Pavik.
Anderson Silva
This Brazilian former UFC Middleweight Champion is a record holder in the sport for two things. Not only did he have the longest title reign in UFC history at 2457 days between 2006-2013, but he also had 16 consecutive victories in that same time frame.
While he doesn’t fight in the UFC anymore – he left in Nov 2020 and returned to boxing – he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023.
Silva often frequents his local casino and while he is mostly successful, he doesn’t tend to wage huge amounts.
Michael Bisping
Michale Bisping was the first British fighter to be crowned the UFC Middleweight Champion. He is another retired fighter, going on to have some success as an actor and adding color commentary to some of the UFC events.
Bisping is well known on the poker circuit and enjoys making predictions on sporting events too.
Nick Diaz
Nick Diaz is a well-known UFC fighter – not necessarily for his success in the octagon (although he has plenty of that), but for his unusual boxing style and habit of trash talking his opponents to get under their skin.
Diaz trained in both karate, aikido, and wrestling while in school, and he gained his black belt In Jui-jitsu in 2007 which was awarded to him by Cesar Gracie himself.
He is known for his brash attitude, and that seems to have served him relatively well as he has competed in professional poker tournaments and enjoys the challenge of pitting himself against different opponents.
