UFC fighter Antonio Trocoly won the big in the 2025 Series World Series of Poker’s Colossa Stonament earlier this week. Trocoli said it was “a very difficult tournament,” but it took a lot of patience, but the private class he had with the former WSOP winner was rewarded.
“That was the biggest hit of my career,” Torokoli told MMA Fighting. “I used to have other prizes in Brazilian Real, like R$48,000 (about 8,600 USD), but not so many. Especially in Colossus, the biggest area of WSOP, I don’t want to switch to $500 for $500. For a long time, I didn’t reach the final table of Colossus.”
Trocoli’s girlfriend Mackenzie Dern is a top-ranked strawweight in the UFC and also participated in the tournament. She began to enjoy poker watching Trokoli play online and had previously had successful celebrity tournaments, but this time she lost early.
“I have to be more serious like him,” Dern told MMA Fighting. “He’s all focused there, listening to his music, his glasses. I’m going to win there, but not too serious. He’s far more serious than me.”
“She’s more relaxed there,” Trokori said. “You know, she’s in the top five in the UFC, so I’m not, so her money is 10 times higher (laughs).
Colossus paid a total of $542,540 to winner Courtenay Williams. Trocoli is currently focusing on participating in the billionaire maker, a WSOP tournament scheduled for June 18th. For example, paying $1,500 in buy-in has earned more than $2 million.
Trocoli has become better as a poker player, but that doesn’t mean he’s walking away from the UFC. The 34-year-old was 2-0 in the promotion, lost to Shara Magomedov, a match lost to less than a week and a loss to Tresean Gore, and was kicked out of a middleweight clash with Mansur Abdul-Malik this February due to injuries this past February.
He hopes to return to the Octagon in August, but after he fights, he sees the future, a poker player and a navy seal.
“It doesn’t add up. If you compare the two, do you get punched in the face or sit in a chair and make money?” Trokori said. “I love staying healthy and I feel good, but I don’t stop training because I like to make money in a few hours. Brothers, there’s no comparison. We fight because we like it.
“MMA is good, but you have to stop life for two months, fight for something that isn’t that much, prepare to break yourself. When you win bonus, cool things, I don’t know. Today I don’t have it… because I won. (MMA and poker) At the same time, I want to play poker only.