If you like fighting or don’t, probably, you have heard about Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship(UFC). Fighting is one of man’s first and oldest acts where no time-outs and few rules are involved. In the art of hand-to-hand combat, you are always against the other fighter or the other fighter and his crew! Although fighting is in our blood, fighting styles have evolved over the years in every culture. For example, Martial Arts are rooted in Asia, wrestling comes from ancient Greece and amateur boxing roots in England.
In this article, I will discuss UFC betting, and you will learn all you need to place your bet on a fight and make some money.
What Is Mixed Martial Arts or MMA?
As the name suggests, this hybrid sport combines various types of martial arts and fighting styles like wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, karate, taekwondo, kung fu, sambo, judo, and many others. Martial arts are codified systems of combat that are practiced for several reasons, including self-defense, military, entertainment, competition, physical and mental development, and so on.
When it comes to MMA roots, the father of modern-day MMA, Bruce Lee, is the most important and influential figure. The objective of MMA, one of the full-contact sports, is to score more than the opponent by points, knockout, or submissions. Players can use striking and wrestling in this sport, both standing and on the ground.
Many organizations promote MMA, the most famous being the UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship from the United States. The other famous ones are Bellator MMA from the US, ACA from Russia, Fight Nights from Russia, One Championship from Singapore, and Rizin Fighting Federation from Japan. The list goes on because there are several MMA organizations in the world.
UFC and MMA Games Rules
The contest is between two fighters fighting in a multi-faceted cage, the ring or the Octagon. In MMA, similar to wrestling, fighters fight within a weight class. A fighter must be under the relevant weight limit; if overweight, they will be disqualified immediately and cannot compete in the contest.
The referee controls the game, and once they say go, fighters can start fighting. Fighters are allowed to do the following to earn points:
✅ Punch the opponent
✅ Kick the opponent
✅ Elbow, knee, or wrestle the opponent
✅ Lock the opponent’s limb to cause them pain
✅ Throw the opponent to the ground or against the cage
✅ Choke the opponent with your limbs
In fact, fighters can virtually use any strike from any martial art, making MMA one of the most flexible among all combat sports in the world. However, there are things fighters are not allowed to do. If they do, they will earn warnings and even disqualification. MMA fighters are not allowed to:
❌ Attack the groin
❌ Knee to the head if the opponent is on the floor
❌ Strike the back of the head or the spine
❌ Head butting, eye gouging, or fish-hooking
❌ Bite, pull hair or grab the cage
❌ Finger in orifices or manipulate the opponent’s fingers
❌ Strike or grab the throat
❌ Intentionally throwing the opponent out of the cage
An MMA fight is contested in 3 rounds of five minutes each, with a one-minute break in between the rounds. UFC and championship contests are contested in 5 rounds of five minutes each.
In MMA, each fighter has the following ways to win a fight.
1️⃣ Knockout: If a fighter knocks down their opponent, the opponent has a limited time to get back up and defend themselves. If the opponent cannot stand up again, the fighter wins the fight by knockout. Regardless of the fighters’ performance during the rounds, once a fighter knocks down their opponent, the contest is over and the fighter wins.
2️⃣ Submission: If a fighter locks the opponent to cause them pain, the opponent can tap the fighter’s body or the floor to call defeat. The opponent can also make a verbal announcement. In this case, the referee immediately ends the fight, and the fighter wins the contest by submission. This case is also known as tapping out.
3️⃣ Technical Knockout: This is when a fighter has not been knocked out, but the referee, medical staff, or the corner crew decide that a fighter cannot go on and defend themselves, or it is too dangerous for them to continue fighting, a technical knockout is announced, and the opponent wins the fight.
4️⃣ Points: If no knockouts or submissions happen during each round, a group of judges will score each fighter according to their performance throughout the fight(look at the following picture as an example). The scoring criteria are striking, grappling, defense, aggression, and cage control. In the end, the fighter with the highest score will be announced as the winner. This way of winning a fight is known as winning by decision.
What was already explained is a general summary of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts followed by most organizations. However, specific rules differ between organizations and if you are interested in any organization, you can check them out for possible specific MMA rules.
UFC MMA Betting Odds
Before I explain the different types of UFC bets, you should know how to read UFC odds. Because if you cannot read and understand UFC odds, your chances of placing successful bets decrease considerably.
Like other sports betting, the UFC betting favorite is represented with a minus (-) sign, and the underdog is listed with a positive (+) sign. Different formats of odds listing are American odds, fractional or decimal odds. They look different, but all have the same meaning.
Let’s practice:
| UFC | Fighter A | -110 | Favorite |
| Fighter B | +150 | Underdog |
As shown in the table above, the favorite is represented by a negative sign and has 110 odds. To back the favorite, you should place $110 to win $100. On the other hand, the underdog is represented by a positive sign and 150 odds, which means to win $150, you should risk $100.
UFC Betting Explained: How To Bet On MMA
Now that you have learned how to read UFC odds, it is time to learn about different UFC betting markets. There are similarities between UFC betting and other combat sports like boxing.
Typically, bookmakers release Moneyline odds for the UFC main events months in advance. Sportsbooks release props odds, like round betting and method of victory a week or two ahead of the event
UFC Moneyline Betting
Moneyline is Moneyline, where you pick the winner to bet on regardless of the sport. In this market, you pick the fighter you think will win the fight and back them. If you think the favorite will win the fight, you back them. But if you think the underdog can win the fight, you bet on the fighter with the positive sign odds.
UFC Round Betting or OVER/UNDER Bet
In UFC betting, there are no goals similar to football. So, to place an over/under bet in a UFC match you will bet on the duration of the game. In other words, the bookmaker sets a line on how long the fight will last. Bettors will decide if the contest will last longer or shorter than that line and bet on that. Typically, the line is set at over/under 1.5 rounds in three-round fights. The line for championships and longer contests is set at over/under 2.5 rounds.
| Over 2.5 rounds | +120 |
| Under 2.5 rounds | -140 |
In the example above, if you think the fight will last longer than 2.5 rounds, you should risk $100 to earn $120. On the other hand, if you go for the under 2.5 rounds option, you will wager $140 to earn $100.
UFC Method Of Victory Or Prop Bet
This market is for the fight’s outcome, not only the winner. Bettors can bet on the game’s outcome, which can be, win by technical knockout, submission, split, and so on. The UFC prop bet odds follow the same pattern as Moneyline and round bets.
UFC Parlay Betting
Like other sports, MMA and UFC parlay tickets combine two or more bets on several fights; hence, the payouts will be combined. Parlay tickets result in higher returns. However, if you get one fight wrong in your parlay ticket, the whole ticket loses, and you lose the entire stake. So, to avoid heavy losses, find strong favorites with an almost certain winning chance. Then, you can combine that favorite bet with a couple of fights where you feel the underdog is a safe bet. In short, to place successful UFC parlay bets, look very deeply at the event and go with fights you are pretty confident in.
UFC Live Betting
Like other sports, live betting on UFC adds to the excitement and fun of the game. Although this market may seem scary and complicated, especially for beginners, in-play betting allows you to bet on the fight in real-time. It is difficult to handicap a fight beforehand and figure out how it’ll go. Still, when you place your wagers live, you have the chance to hedge any bets you made before.
The lines for in-play bets keep changing depending on the fighters’ performances and how the fight goes. For this reason, you can jump in and place your UFC live bets at any time during the fight. This allows you to see how the fight is going and place a better bet with more confidence. In addition, if you have already placed a bet and don’t like it based on the fight, you can use in-play betting to hedge your bet and limit your losses.
Betting MMA Tips and Strategies
In addition to what was already explained, below are the best UFC and MMA betting tips to help you make better bets and enjoy UFC events more.
🔎 Study UFC Fighters Before Betting.
🔎 Look at more than the record. This means you should check the fighter’s record. But the quality of the competition is more important than the record.
👀 Use data and statistics to monitor the strengths and weaknesses of each fighter in a UFC matchup
💪 Look who has the physical advantage.
👀 Keep an eye on injury reports.
📍 Consider the location of the fight. Because long travel can considerably affect fighters’ performance.
🧐 Shop around to find the best betting lines.
🔃 Use rematch strategy: This is to back the victor of the first contest. Because statistically, in UFC rematches, approximately 68% of the time, the fighter who won the first fight wins the rematch.
UFC Betting Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Best Way To Bet On UFC?
The best way to bet on UFC is to do your research, know the odds and bet only at valid and legal bookies. Here are my recommended sportsbooks. You can rest assured that they have checked all the boxes like safety, banking options, customer support, bonuses, the user interface, and so on.
- Betonline
- FanDuel
- Bovada
- BetMGM
What Is The Best MMA Betting Site?
All the sites I listed above are the best ones. BetOnline and FanDuel are pretty good. They offer plenty of betting options and bonuses.
Is UFC Betting Legal?
UFC betting is like any other sports betting. It is not explicitly illegal to place a bet on authorized and licensed online bookmakers. However, if in a state sports betting is illegal, UFC betting will be illegal too. Overall, UFC betting is available anywhere sports betting is.
What Sportsbook Does Not Have Age Verification?
NONE! You will not find any LEGAL and LICENSED bookie without age verification. Because age verification is a licensure prerequisite.
How To Check UFC Tips And Predictions Tonight?
The websites above provide available UFC tips and predictions for today.
To Sum It Up
Although MMA is not as popular as football, many people love to watch UFC events and bet on them. If you don’t know every detail about MMA, you can still watch UFC and place successful bets on the outcome of the fights. All you have to do is to review the basics I already covered in this post, sign up with one of the recommended trusted sportsbooks, and start fighting!