GiGi Canuto makes it rain in octagon after winning $500 Cormier bet
GiGi Canuto knocked out Anita Karim in under 30 seconds at The Ultimate Fighter 34, then celebrated by making it rain inside the octagon — possibly a UFC first.
The strawweight stopped Karim with a pair of body kicks on the latest episode of the reality show, collecting Team Bisping its first win and paying off a $500 knockout bet she made with opposing coach Daniel Cormier. Cormier handed over the cash immediately after the finish, and Canuto tossed bills into the air in front of UFC CEO Dana White. "The producers actually told me that I might be the first person to make it rain in an octagon," she told MMA Fighting. "When [Cormier] gave it to me I was like, how funny would it be for me to make it rain in front of Dana White? Even Dana was just looking at me and he was like, 'Holy s*it. Congrats, kid.'"
Cormier doubted Canuto's striking before the bet
The wager grew out of a conversation in which Cormier, familiar with Canuto through her work with Andrew Cejudo, suggested she keep the fight standing for entertainment value. A Team Cormier coach was overheard doubting her standup, which prompted the bet. Canuto, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion who submitted UFC fighter Denise Gomes in a 2024 Fight Pass Invitational, was confident enough to put money on a knockout despite the $500 ceiling being set by what she could afford to lose. She now wishes she had gone higher. "DC has money, I should have bet more than that," she said.
Canuto improved to 7-1 as a pro with the win and advanced to the TUF semifinals. She had been reluctant to join the cast, viewing the reality show format as beneath her trajectory, but changed her mind two days later in what she described as a panicked epiphany. Once on set, she decided to hold nothing back, even telling White before the fight that she did not need luck. "I kind of was trying to tell myself he's just another human, like he just so happens to have power," she said. "In that moment, my message was 'Independent of what happens on the show, you see something and I want you to remember it.'"
The TUF 34 semifinals air in the coming weeks with Canuto one step away from a UFC contract.
Original reporting:
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