Anthony
Wint says his toughest opponent was his gambling addiction.
Wint was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets in
2018 and waived the next year. He desperately started preparing for
a comeback to the NFL, which never materialized. Having spent all
his savings, Wint used to live out of his car when a serious
gambling addiction emerged. He recently detailed how it came
about.
Anthony Wint says staying away from gambling in Las Vegas
tested him more than Matthew Adams or Terrance Chatman
It all started back in college when Wint made $1,000 out of $300
that his friend's father had given him. He claims this sparked a
habit that he took eight years to resolve.
“When that [NFL comeback] didn't happen, I was sitting there broke,
homeless, hungry… In college, my teammate's dad gave me and my
teammate both $300 to gamble with. I turned that $300 into $1,000,
and in my head a switch went off,†Wint told Ariel Helwani. “I was
like, ‘I've been homeless my whole life. I've been trying to help
my mom out. We've been in poverty all our lives. I just made $700
in two hours.' That was the trap. That was the trap of the devil.
And he had me in those chains for eight years…â€
Wint recently earned an
Ultimate Fighting Championship contract with a first-round
knockout win over Matthew
Adams on
Dana White's Contender Series. He refused to leave Las Vegas
without locking in his UFC debut.
Wint made an 11-day turnaround for his Octagon debut, finishing
Terrance
Chatman at
UFC Sacramento. He says avoiding gambling while in Las Vegas
was a bigger challenge than Adams or Chatman.
“The battle wasn't Matthew
Adams, the battle wasn't Terrance
Chatman,†Wint added. “The battle was having me sit in Vegas
and not gamble. And by the grace of God, I was able to sit and
would see slot machines and blackjack tables and know that I was
stronger than the addiction I had before.â€
Anthony
Wint opens up about experiencing homelessness and overcoming an
eight-year gambling addiction:
“When that [NFL comeback] didn't happen, I was sitting there broke,
homeless, hungry.
In college, my teammate's dad gave me $300 to gamble with. I turned
that $300 into… pic.twitter.com/OkhQ77VVEH
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
September 2, 2026
Sean
Sharaf is planning on getting a financial advisor after making
several terrible decisions.
Sharaf (5-2) was a massive underdog going into his
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight bout against
Gable
Steveson at UFC
331, where he recorded a 12-second knockout in a historic
upset. He revealed before the bout that he was in heavy debt.
Sean Sharaf discusses ‘crazy' ways he blew up money to end up
in debt
Sharaf earned a $50,000 promotional bonus from Paramount+ for his
win over Steveson. Dana
White added $50,000 of his own to double Sharaf's bonus, while
revealing that the UFC heavyweight was $600,000 in debt.
Sharaf recently revealed how he gradually came under massive debt.
The former U.S. Marine admits to making terrible financial
decisions like buying a truck he couldn't afford. Sharaf also
started gambling when he first moved to Las Vegas in the hope of
meeting White, who frequents casinos.
Sharaf eventually had to borrow money from his mother. He took an
advance from his management company for UFC 331 so that he could
train in Vegas, as he lives with his mother in California now.
Sharaf barely has any assets in his name and banks regularly keep
hounding him. However, his life will hopefully change after his
last win, considering he plans to consult a financial advisor
now.
“I just made a lot of very crazy financial decisions,†Sharaf told
ESPN MMA. “So, I had a TRX I couldn't afford. Blew $120,000 on that
thing. I was trying to help my mom sometimes. But more times I
actually had borrowed money from her. I got an advance on my purse
from my management so I could have my camp in Vegas… I gambled a
lot of money when I first moved to Vegas. I was trying to meet
Dana… I don't have anything in my name. The banks call you every
single day… I think I'm getting a financial advisor.â€
Marlon
Vera's house was broken into while he was getting ready to
challenge Sean
O’Malley for the title.
Vera made an unsuccessful
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title bid against
O'Malley in 2024 in Miami. He recently revealed that his house in
California was broken into the night before the fight. When the
cameras went off at night, Vera's wife thought it was due to a
power cut. The next morning, the police informed Vera that his
house had been robbed.
Marlon Vera says his watch collection was stolen from his
California home before UFC 299
Vera wasn't happy to hear the news just hours before the biggest
fight of his career. Vera's watch collection, worth approximately
$200,000, was stolen. While someone informed Vera about a suspect,
the police never caught the culprit. Vera also believes it could be
someone who knew him, as they entered, found the watch collection
without rummaging through the house and exited within five
minutes.
“The night before the fight, the cameras went off,†Vera told
Michael
Bisping. “My wife was like, ‘Oh, maybe it's the electricity.'
The next morning, I wake up like, ‘F*ck yeah, title fight. Today
life changed.' Then the phone rings and the cops are like, ‘Hey
dude, they just robbed your house last night around 7 p.m.' I said,
‘Right now I don't have time for this; I'm fighting tonight.' The
cops know who I am; they were like, ‘No, we get it; we just thought
we’d let you know.' I'm like, ‘Wrong time to let me know.' They
told me they took my safe. I lost like $200K because I'm a watch
collector. Those were kind of investments. Those watches are money.
I'm counting in my head like, ‘Now I'm $200K short.' The cops never
found the guy. I have a photo and I have this random person
accusing, like, ‘Oh, I know this guy. His name is blah, blah.' The
guy came in, took the safe and took it through the front door. It
took him five minutes.â€
Vera (24-12) went on a four-fight skid starting with the failed
title challenge against O'Malley. “Chito†finally ended the slump
with a stoppage win over Charles
Jourdain at UFC 331.
Paddy Pimblett provides an update on his next UFC fight
Zuffa LLC
Alexandre Pantoja may be wise to ride off into the sunset following UFC 331, at least that's what Demetrious Johnson thinks.
Pantoja hoped to prove that he's still the true king of the flyweight division when he shared the Octagon with Joshua Van a second time this past Saturday. Their first encounter ended prematurely when Pantoja suffered an arm injury. While the second clash was a five-round affair that earned “Fight of the Night†bonuses, it was Van who walked out of the Crypto.com Arena still the 125-pound ruler.
So, where does that leave Pantoja now? During a post-UFC 331 edition of the “Precision Pod,†Johnson told Israel Adesanya that he feels now would be a good time for Pantoja to walk away from pro MMA competition given his place in the flyweight division without a title (via MMAJunkie).
“It's hard because he was a champion, and he's beat Brandon Moreno, he's beat Brandon Royval,†Johnson said. “I don't know if he's beat Manel Kape, but Manel Kape is going to be fighting Joshua Van next. So it's kind of interesting because he's in the no-man's land where he's beaten everyone already. The only guys he can fight now are just newcomers. He's not going to fight Kyoji Horiguchi because they're teammates. You don't want to knock down an upcoming newcomer because Pantoja is 36. That's where my black ass just goes, ‘Dog, ride off into the sunset. You don't need to get hit. You don't need concussions anymore. You've done your thing.’â€
Whether or not Pantoja feels the same way remains to be seen. The former flyweight champion will be turning 37 in April, and he's already cemented his legacy with a lengthy run at the top of his weight class. Pantoja has long dismissed the possibility of moving up to bantamweight, but perhaps the loss to Van will give him something to consider.
Where should Alexandre Pantoja go from here? Is retirement a strong possibility? If not, should he stick around at flyweight or move up to 135 pounds? Let us know what you think in the comments below.