MMA Standard Bets

Usually, UFC night shows comprise multiple battles and thus award you hours of action and excitement. The essence of mixed martial arts presupposes the availability of different types of wagers that far surpass the option to bet on who is going to win the fight. The sport allows punters to test their betting abilities through different standard and proposition bet types so if you want to be a successful MMA punter you need to properly understand each of them. The main aim of the current article is to introduce you to the conventional MMA betting markets with which it is advisable to start your journey in the field of mixed martial arts betting. We tried to explain the main aspects of each market accompanied by some basic MMA betting tips to help you have a pleasant and fruitful sports betting experience.

MMA Moneyline Bet

Also referred to as Outright Winner bet, this is the type of wager known and placed by the greatest number of betting devotees as it is the easiest to recognize. As you may guess from its name, this betting market requires you to predict which of the two fighters will defeat his opponent regardless of the method of victory or the stage of the event when this happens. Although a draw result is hardly ever occurring it is still possible and some online bookmakers accept bets on that option. In such a case, the market is called 3-Way Moneyline and looks like this:

The presented MMA betting odds clearly show who the expected favorite and underdog are as well as that a draw result is not really expected. If, however, you place a $10 bet on this last option and you have the extremely rare chance to guess, you will end up with $800 added to your bankroll (10 x 81 – 10 = 810 – 10 = 800).

The only difference the 2-Way Moneyline comes with is the absence of the Draw betting market. Here is one typical example from an UFC fight night.

With this MMA fight, if we rely on the betting odds presented by the online bookmaker, strengths are more evenly matched and probably predicting the outcome will be trickier. There is no doubt, odds of winning are an integral part of every punter’s betting experience. However, it is not reasonable to base your predictions on them only. After all, bookmakers are human beings and as such they can make a mistake. What is more, online sportsbooks are economic entities so they need to obey some market principles and this sometimes has its effect on the exact numbers published.

Our advice is to take into consideration the odds of winning presented by your bookmaker of choice but at the time perform your own independent research. In this regard, the achievements of both fighters may largely foretell what to expect in the upcoming fight. The current physical form of a fighter is essential when predicting his chances of becoming a winner, so place a special focus on the last several battles. Pay attention both to victories and losses as well as on the respective rivals. No matter how skillful a fighter is, he meets an inconvenient opponent every so often. If you happen to know such an important detail, you may have an advantage over punters who have not delved so deeply into their pre-match research.

MMA Over/Under Bets

The Total Rounds wager is antipodal to the above bet type but is almost equally popular due to its simplicity and high chances of giving a correct prediction. By antipodal we mean that the name of the winner when placing an Over/Under bet has absolutely no importance since here you must put your money on whether the fight will last over or under a predetermined number of rounds. Some online bookmakers accept bets on one threshold only while others have odds for all possible options.

While it is not mandatory for the number of rounds to be presented in halves (i.e. 1.5) you better avoid betting on round figures unless you are looking for greater risk. For example, if you place your stake on an Over/Under bet set to 3 rounds and one of the fighters decides to quit just before the start of the 4th round, you will end up with a losing bet. So, you better find a bookie that offers a 3.5 Over/Under betting market. If you think the fight will last 4 rounds, you must select the over option. Logically, if you think the win will be accomplished not later than the third round, you must bet on the under option. Rounds’ duration is 5 minutes, so .5 refers to 2:30 min of the respective fight round.

To make a correct prediction you again need to know the fighters very well. Get acquainted with statistics paying particular attention to average continuance of matches. Fighting style and stamina of both competitors are also of significant importance. If you do not know the fighters well, spend some time researching whether they are expansive and throw themselves in the battle from the very first second, on what level their stamina is, can they withstand pain, etc.

MMA Future Betting

As with many other sports, the character of MMA allows for some bets to be placed weeks and even months in advance. UFC future betting is a challenging wagering variation that requires MMA betting devotees to predict who will win a certain belt title at the end of the calendar year. Given the long time left until the end of the sports season, usually the odds of this particular betting market are pretty high. At the moment of writing, the odds for the 2022 UFC Lightweight Champion are as follows:

Another type of long-term MMA wagers are the outrights that enable punters to place their bets on future fights that are yet to be confirmed. Negotiations related to major battles between star fighters comprise issues like royalties, dates, venue, etc. and sometimes it takes months before your bet is settled. This is a real test for your patience but with the potential to generously pay out. In case a certain fight is canceled before an official date is announced, sportsbooks void all bets placed and return stakes to punters.

Conclusion

We will put an end to our review of standard MMA bet types with something that applies to all mixed martial arts wagers. It is true that mixed martial arts is a well-liked discipline to bet on but still, its popularity is not as comprehensive as the one of football for example. That is why, online sportsbooks often tend to spend more time and effort on the more popular sports and thus leave some space for mispricing when it comes to MMA. It is definitely worth performing line shopping and subsequently bet with the bookmaker that provides the most profitable betting odds at the time of placing your wager.