Tommy McMillen is 12-0 as a professional mixed martial artist, and he fights with an ACR Poker patch on his shorts. At Noche UFC, the ACR Poker ambassador beat Marwan Rahiki by unanimous decision, then collected a third consecutive $100,000 UFC bonus. The result is a good excuse to look at one of poker's more unusual sponsorship stories, and at what the crossover between combat sports and online poker means for players.
The fight
According to a World Poker Deals report published on September 19, McMillen faced Rahiki in a three-round bout at Noche UFC and won on all three scorecards: 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27. He struggled in round two, then picked up the pace in round three, scored a knockdown and combined striking with grappling. It was the first professional loss of Rahiki's career, which makes the win more notable.
The result lifted McMillen to 12 consecutive professional wins. Noche UFC was his second fight since becoming an ACR Poker ambassador.
Three UFC wins, three bonuses
McMillen's UFC record stands at three wins. In April he stopped Manolo Zecchini before the final bell. In July he finished Alberto Montes, a fight that included 252 significant strikes, a UFC record for three-round fights. Each of the three wins earned him a $100,000 UFC bonus, for a total of $300,000 in bonuses.
For a young fighter, bonuses of that size are a significant addition to a purse, and they reward the kind of exciting, high-volume fighting that McMillen shows. The report says he wants to return to the octagon before the end of 2026. No opponent has been announced.
Poker and fight week
The report notes that McMillen was seen playing online poker between training sessions during fight week. That is a natural fit for the sponsor, which gets content showing its product being used in an authentic way. Fight camps involve a lot of waiting around, and online poker is a flexible way to fill the time between sessions.
ACR's ambassador roster also includes Rene and Casey Nezhoda, known from the TV show "Storage Wars". That mix of poker pros, reality TV personalities and athletes shows how the brand uses personalities to reach audiences beyond traditional poker media. Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion, is a long-time ACR team pro.
Why poker keeps sponsoring athletes
There are several reasons online poker rooms sign athletes. First, the audience overlaps. Fans of combat sports often enjoy competitive, strategic games with a gambling element, and many follow poker streams. Second, athletes bring built-in social media reach. Third, a story with a clear arc, an unbeaten fighter on a winning run, creates repeatable content each time he steps into the cage.
There is also a regulatory dimension. Brands that operate in the US market are cautious about how they promote themselves. Sponsoring an individual who plays poker casually, rather than running broad advertising for gambling, can be a gentler approach. Meanwhile, athletes themselves face scrutiny about gambling endorsements; our coverage of Wembanyama's refusal to endorse gambling sites shows that some stars choose to stay out of the space.
ACR's current promotional calendar
The same report points to ACR's busy fall schedule. The OSS XL series ran through September 29 with over $50 million guaranteed. On September 20, opening flights began for two major Main Events and the second opening flight of a $66 buy-in tournament with a $500,000 guarantee. "Second Mortgage Week", from September 21 to 28, ran 10 tournaments with buy-ins from $5,200 to $25,500. For US players, there's now also a weekly leaderboard, which we explain in our ACR US leaderboard guide.
You can read about the room's software, banking and offers in our Americas Cardroom review, and compare it with other US-facing sites on our US poker sites page.
Sports crossover: from the cage to the felt
The overlap between poker and combat sports isn't new. Poker players have long followed boxing and MMA, and fighters often talk about the mental side of competition in terms poker players recognise: reading an opponent, managing risk, staying calm under pressure. McMillen's round-two struggle and round-three surge is a good example of adjustment: you lose a round, recognise it and change your approach. In poker terms, it is the difference between playing your cards and playing the person.
That said, the analogy has limits. A fighter's success is physical and immediate; a poker player's results are spread over thousands of hands, with luck playing a role in the short term. Fans who move from watching fights to playing poker should keep their expectations realistic. Our bankroll management guide and beginner poker sites list are good starting points.
What it means for players
Promotions follow personalities. Rooms that sign athletes tend to run themed promotions around fight weeks and big events. If you play on ACR, watch the lobby and email for tie-ins, and check our bonus page for current offers.
Don't confuse marketing with advantage. An ambassador who plays on a site doesn't mean the site is right for you. Judge a room on its payouts, security, game selection and rake. Our safe poker sites guide explains how.
Combine hobbies carefully. If you bet on combat sports as well as play poker, keep the bankrolls separate. Our sportsbooks page lists betting options. Mixing them without a plan is a quick way to blur your results.
Enjoy the stories. The best part of poker sponsorship is that it brings new voices to the game. A fighter with a perfect record and a taste for online tournaments is good for the sport's visibility.
The numbers at a glance
- Record: 12-0 as a professional fighter
- UFC record: 3-0
- UFC bonuses: three at $100,000 each, $300,000 total
- Latest win: unanimous decision over Marwan Rahiki, 29-28, 29-28, 29-27
- Next fight: before the end of 2026, no opponent yet announced
Looking ahead
McMillen wants to be back in the cage before the year ends, and ACR will presumably continue to feature him. Whether he becomes a regular on the poker circuit or stays a casual online player, his run is a rare case of a rising athlete and an online poker brand sharing a growth story. For poker fans, it is a reminder that the game's audience is wider than the usual tournament circuit, and that its marketing increasingly lives in other sports.
For now, the practical advice is simple: enjoy the fights, play within your limits and treat any sponsor-driven offers as a bonus, not a reason to change your stakes. If you want to see what the room offers, start with our review, and check the lobby for the next series.