Understanding How To Bet UFC

There may not be two more popular forms of entertainment going right now other than sports gambling and MMA - or more specific - the UFC. Both have seen huge booms in popularity in the recent years with sports gambling becoming legal in more states - and thus, available to more and more players. And the UFC is supplanting boxing as the top battle-type sport. Both are all over your TV sets with advertisements and commercials running daily. They even have partnered, with sports gambling sites like Draft Kings being a sponsor of big UFC pay per view fights. So it makes sense that these two uber-popular entities would make for the perfect marriage. But betting on the UFC and other MMA fights isn't the same as betting on traditional sports like football and basketball. But fear not because today, we are going to walk you through how to bet on UFC cards so that you too can get in on all the action. So what're we waiting for? Ring that bell and let's get to it!

Betting on MMA and the UFC

If you aren't quite sure what the UFC is - it stands for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, while MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts. Where boxing only allows punching, MMA and the UFC allows punching, striking, kicking, grappling - pretty much anything you can think of. You might not think that there would be a lot of ways to bet on a fight between two men or women, but you'd be wrong. Let's take a closer look at some of the different bets and what to look for…

The money line bet

The most basic MMA or UFC bet is called the money line - just as it is called for the more traditional sports. Basically, when you bet the money line in MMA or the UFC, you are betting on one fighter to win their fight. One fighter will be considered the favorite and the other fighter will be considered the underdog. A favorite is the fighter that the oddsmakers think is the superior fighter and thus, should win. That will be represented in the odds, which will be a negative number for the favorite. You'll see odds like -150 or -200 - the greater the favorite the higher the odds will be. So if you wanted to bet on a favorite at -200, you'd need to wager $200 just to win $100 back.

The underdog fighter is considered the less skilled fighter and thus, not as likely to win. That will be reflected in his or her odds by being positive. An underdog will have odds like +150 or +300 - the bigger the underdog the bigger the odds. If you took an underdog fighter at +350 odds, a $100 bet would win you $350.

You can also place a money line bet through live betting - these odds are constantly changing as the fight is progressing and the action that is taking place.

Over/Under rounds bet

UFC fights - and most MMA fights for that matter - consist of three, 5 minute rounds. An over/under bet is betting on how long the fight will last. For example, if the over/under rounds is set at 2.5 and the fight ends up going into the third round and lasting over the 2:30 mark, the OVER bet would win.

If the over/under is set at 2.5 and the fight is over in the first round, the UNDER bet would be the winning bet.

Winning method bet

As we mentioned earlier, MMA allows multiple forms of fighting. That means that a fighter could win the fight in any manner of ways - knock out by punch, knock out by kick, submission, TKO, etc.

That's where the winning method bet comes into play. This is another very popular bet where players can bet on a fighter to win by knockout, win by decision (that is when the fight lasts the entire 3 rounds and the judges determine the winner), to win by submission and many more.

If you bet on Fighter A to win by submission, then that fighter MUST win by submission. If he or she wins the fight by anything other than a submission, your bet would lose.

If you bet on a fighter to win by 'finish', then that fighter would have to win by knockout, submission, or DQ in order for your bet to be a winner.

Fight Props

Prop bets for MMA fights are a nice way to add even more excitement onto your betting ticket. These are more specific bets and come with higher odds - meaning bigger payouts if you're lucky enough for your prop bet to hit. Examples of some fight props are bets like "the fight will go the distance", "time of finish", "most strikes landed", and many more. Most of the time, these prop bets don't have anything to do with the final outcome of the fight and are more focused on specific actions happening within the fight.

Parlays

Everyone loves parlays. Parlays are win you have 2 or more bets on the same ticket. They're so popular because they can result in some big time payouts. The only catch is that ALL the bets on the ticket must hit in order for the parlay to be a winner.

When we're talking about MMA and UFC parlays, an example could be choosing four different fighters on a fight card to all win their fights. You could also do a parlay on a single fight and bet on a fighter to win by decision, have the most strikes and the most knockdowns. The more legs (or bets) there are on a parlay the bigger the payout. But the more legs there are the tougher it will be to hit every one of them.

Conclusion

So there we have it! Our breakdown of how to bet on the exciting and fast paced sport of MMA. As you can see, there are plenty of ways to get in on the action. And with a little research, you could build a parlay with a better chance of hitting. Or you could just keep it simple and pick your favorite fighter to win his or her fight. Whatever you decide, there's a good chance you'll have a blast betting on this thrilling sport!