Athletes and sponsorships have a very symbiotic relationship. While sponsorships help athletes earn some serious wealth, an athlete’s credibility can work wonders for a brand. Sometimes, however, athletes have been known for not associating themselves with particular brands they do not relate with. Athletes often let go of huge sums and stay away from brands and products they don’t want their followers to indulge with. UFC flyweight fighter Muhammad Mokaev has revealed a similar situation where he let go of a handsome amount of sponsorship deal because he didn’t want to associate himself with a betting company.
Got offered $200,000 for sponsorship from betting company
But I said once and will say again I will never advertise gambling, alcohol or drugs. Allah gave me more than I asked , alhamdulillah I have more than I I asked God 10 years ago!— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) February 21, 2023
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Mokaev is a British National but hails from Dagestan. Like most fighters from the region, he has been a force to reckon with in his pro-MMA career and is yet to lose a fight. He has revealed in a tweet how he did not accept a $2oo, ooo sponsorship offer from a betting company.
Muhammad Mokaev steps away from a sponsorship opportunity
In a Tweet posted on his handle, Mokaev explained why he didn’t take up the lucrative opportunity. He tweeted, Got offered $200,000 for sponsorship from betting company But I said once and will say again I will never advertise gambling, alcohol, or drugs. Allah gave me more than I asked, alhamdulillah I have more than I asked God 10 years ago!
Muhammad Mokaev is not the first fighter from Dagestan to have let go of such opportunities. The biggest name in the MMA world from Dagestan, Khabib Nurmagomedov, had been of similar ideology and had kept betting companies away from his promotion Eagle FC.
Khabib Nurmagomedov stayed clear of betting companies
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Khabib Nurmagomedov has stayed clear from association with any betting company despite being the owner of Eagle FC. He has been very open about his views on the matter and had talked about it in a YouTube video. Khabib said, “We have plenty of good sponsors that we work with and put on events. We don’t need bookmakers.”. He also went on to say how he felt bookmakers ruin entire families.
The betting industry is expected to grow to a massive $140 billion by 2028. UFC and many other promotions have sponsorship relations with betting companies like Draft Kings etc, but The Dagestani camp usually likes to stay clear from them and aren’t shy of putting their views out in the open.
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What’s your take on the betting industry? Do you think Mokaev did the right thing by rejecting the huge offer? Let us know.
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