And this week he doubled his deficit as he backed both Max Holloway and Robert Whittaker to land knockout wins at UFC 308. Both men actually lost by stoppage, but that hasn’t deterred the Irishman, who claims to still be in a more than $6million profit.

Conor McGregor lost $500,000 on UFC 308 bets one week after PFL disaster

After a few high-profile gambling victories, Conor McGregor took to social media last weekend to declare his support for PFL champion Renan Ferreira against Francis Ngannou. The bout was for the PFL’s heavyweight Super Fights belt, as well as MMA’s lineal title.

The Brazilian was a considerable underdog, but is a known knockout artist and holds a considerable weight advantage over Ngannou. The Cameroonian had also just been viciously stopped in a boxing fight a few months prior.

All this made for a bet that made some degree of sense. However, this week at UFC 308, he was picking against undefeated fighters in Ilia Topuria and Khamzat Chimaev against aging former champions like Holloway and Whittaker.

While Holloway had never been knocked out or even officially dropped in his career before Saturday night, he was famous for his granite chin, which is always a risky bet. And Whittaker had been stopped before on multiple occasions, meaning they were reasonable underdogs.

Conor McGregor insists he is still profitable in betting amid massive losses

Fans had noticed the massive amount of money McGregor has lost on his recent bets, but he insists that he is still profitable from wagers he placed earlier in the year. He backed Spain to win the Euros and picked Nate Diaz to overcome Jorge Masvidal in their boxing bout, which both earned him big payouts.

And taking to X, he assured his followers that he was ok with a message that read: “I won $7.7m million in gambling profits this year. Spain to win the euros, $1.1m win. Diaz to win, $1.6 win. Argentina to win copa America, $1m win.

“Spain, Carlos Alcarez, Argentina treble on the day of the games, 100k bet won me $4mill win. I lost golden boot 63k in euros, I lost Ferreira last week 500k and 500k tonight. $1.63m losses, $7.7m wins. $6m+ I am up now today as it stands.

“October now. Rocking nicely! Gambling is for sure risky. Gamble responsibly. I am playing on profits which is why I am taking risks, as well as playing more frequently. Gamble responsibly.”

Ironically, the last win he is known to have recorded came when he picked Alex Pereira to beat Khalil Rountree by knockout at UFC 307 earlier this month. That was one of the safest bets in MMA at the time, and his $1million wager only returned a $200,000 profit, which he claims is antithetical to his stance.

Conor McGregor shares his gambling philosophy after losing $1million in two weeks

The reason that McGregor is betting so much on such unlikely outcomes, he says, is that the rewards in the case of an upset are so large. This is infamously one of the most cited reasons for gamblers to bet on massive outsiders, which generally tends to favor the bookmakers.

“Here’s the thing, you can take the conventional odds on favourites to win,” he wrote. “And yes they should win, and you get your baby pay out and be happy, but to think that bet would have returned me $17m+ is outstanding.

“If you look at the odds from a point of view like this, at 500k to return 17m off of just two fight predictions, well doable, you have 32 times to hit the bet and still be happy! 32 shots at the wheel for that payout. Food for thought, my gambling aficionados. 34 shots actually.”

Conor McGregor is reminded of anti-gambling PSA after massive betting losses

The Irishman’s massive losses are a far cry from a message he shared 11 years ago, noting the dangers of gambling. He was commenting on an event seemingly featuring horse racing, although which exact meeting is unclear as yet.

“F*** them horses, and f*** gambling,” he wrote at the time. And he noticed the contradiction of his recent actions, writing in response to the decade-old message: “2013 someone highlighted this tweet lol hahaha.

“Look, gamble responsibly folks. It is a dangerous game no matter your situation tbh. Play smart. Box clever. Good luck.”

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