Rashad Evans Bets Cash on Himself at UFC 98: Rashad Evans hopes to pick up a few extra bucks...

Rashad Evans Bets Cash on Himself at UFC 98:

Rashad Evans hopes to pick up a few extra bucks while he's in Las Vegas, on top of the purse he'll collect for fighting Lyoto Machida.

That's because Evans placed a bet on himself as a plus-210 underdog -- pretty good odds for an undefeated champion.

"I'm coming into this fight still the underdog," Evans said, not offering to say how much he bet on himself to win. "Every time I fight, people pick against me."

HT: lvrj.com

about 3 years ago Nick Thomas 19 comments 0 recs |

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can you do that?

by bigweeze on May 23, 2009 11:40 AM EDT reply actions

sure you can.

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by Brent Brookhouse on May 23, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

This doesn’t seem quite…legal…

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by Scott C. Broussard on May 23, 2009 11:47 AM EDT reply actions

He’s never going to make it into the baseball hall of fame now

by youngid on May 23, 2009 12:58 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

We are about to see some brazillian/japanese on black crime.

by Bandaka on May 23, 2009 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

I didn’t think that was legal…can anyone verify this?

by Lolly on May 23, 2009 1:23 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t know all the ins and outs of this, but I think it’s more a sports association (i.e. NFL, MLB) violation rather than a legality issue. Michael David Smith talks about it a bit:

In most sports, an athlete betting money on his own competition would be a major no-no. But in boxing and mixed martial arts, it’s considered completely acceptable for a fighter to put money on himself.

by Cannon Jacques on May 23, 2009 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

This is correct...

the Pete Rose situation was more of a “golden rule infraction” than a legal issue.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

http://CurseOfRonKarkovice.blogspot.com/

by Brent Brookhouse on May 23, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s legal, it doesn’t change the incentive to win.

by Michael Rome on May 23, 2009 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

would it be legal if he were to bet money on his loss??

by Fight Genius on May 23, 2009 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

uhhhhh …… yeah.

by funkyfetus on May 23, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

you could just call it insurance

by bigweeze on May 23, 2009 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Such a proud and confident guy would bet a lot of cash on himself. More pressure for him, most probably on purpose.

by spectaa on May 23, 2009 3:49 PM EDT reply actions

The problem with athletes betting goes beyond the possibility that they will bet against themselves.
The biggest problem is if an athlete racks up significant gambling debts.
Especially as MMA gets bigger in the betting scene we are likely to see more and more prop bets. This is where a smart bookie who is owed a lot of money by an athlete can make money.
In the Superbowl you can bet on whether the first play is a run or a pass and pretty much anything else that happens in a game.
What if you could bet on whether the first strike that a fighter throws is a kick or a punch.
A bookie could forgive a huge debt to a fighter just for throwing one or the other. The fighter would not need to compromise his career or do anything that is really all the wrong but it still ruins the betting and it is a slippery slope.

I dislike Matt Hughes.

by MonkeyCHops on May 23, 2009 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

Lots of props bets already out

For example: Cote vs Anderson Silva, the prop bets were how long Cote would last. I felt that it could feel suspicious since the odds of Cote making into round 3 were so low. Yet Silva was at a such a low risk of losing.

It definitely could happen but prop bets are on very few fights anyway.

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by achengy on May 23, 2009 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions