MMA Betting

Mixed martial arts fights have been around for millennia and have always been excellent for wagers. MMA betting probably started as early as 5,000 years ago when ancient MMA fighters first locked horns.

MMA wagers, as we know them today, on the other hand, became popular worldwide several decades ago. The invention of online gambling was the main catalyst for this betting expansion.

In the past, people placed most of their MMA bets in the arena where the fight took place. There were few if any side and prop bets and punters only wagered on the bout winner outcome. Back then, MMA wagers were quite rudimentary, to say the least.

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These days, however, mixed martial arts bets are a different beast. Betting on popular competitions such as the UFC, the ONE Championship and Bellator come with tons of bets to choose from. Some of the more popular among these include fight winner (2-way and 3-way), method of victory, double chance, fight to go the distance and so on.

What is more, betting is no longer restricted to the people watching around the Octagon only. If a punter wants to bet on a UFC fight, he can do that easily from the comfort of his home. Online betting options for MMA fights are extensive, offer enticing bonuses, and come with pretty high betting odds.

mma betting sites

Best MMA Betting Sites

To get the most out of any cage fight, a punter has to bet at the best MMA betting sites exclusively. Betting at inferior martial arts bookmakers can ruin the wagering experience entirely, and bettors should avoid doing it.

There are several things that UFC betting enthusiasts should look for in a betting site. These include factors such as licenses, security certificates, banking options, and customer support. Once a punter covers these, he can start focusing on martial arts betting options and UFC odds on offer.

Licenses from Reputable Betting Regulators

A license from a renowned gambling regulator is crucial for a safe and carefree betting experience. This is because gambling authorities such as the UK and Gibraltar gambling commissions ensure that a bookmaker works legitimately. They do this by verifying that bookmakers’ credentials are reliable and that a provider has a clean track record.

To check whether a UFC betting site has a valid license, the punter should find the licensing authority that regulates the bookmaker. This information is available on the betting site, and the bettor can locate it easily as it is usually at the bottom of the page.

After finding the name of the regulator, the customer should go to its website. If everything is as the wagering provider claims to be, the regulator should have the site listed as being licensed too. This two-step process is very easy and should be the first thing a punter does before placing a UFC bet.

Latest Security Certificates and 256-bit Encryption

In addition to a license, a punter should also verify that the UFC bookmaker has all the latest security certificates. Betting at a site with expired security credentials is like playing with fire. All it takes is one thing to go wrong, and you will get badly burnt.

Another thing that a customer should look for at this stage is the level of encryption that the wagering provider has. The best in the business always secure sensitive financial information with 256-bit encryption. This level of coding data is as advanced as encrypting technology can be, and punters shouldn’t settle for anything less.

The More Banking Methods Available, The Better

A modern martial arts wagering provider will have all the conventional payment methods and then some. This extensive offer of banking will ensure that you can deposit and withdraw with your preferred option and won’t have to set up a new one.

Most standard bookmakers enable payments via credit and debit cards, eWallets, pre-paid cards, mobile deposit methods, bank wires etc.

The best ones, however, will have these and will look to add some more. The most advanced in this regard will also enable cryptocurrency payments. Crypto-accepting betting sites allow for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and Litecoin transactions.

Cryptocurrency transactions are synonymous with speed and anonymity, and these are things that all punters appreciate. That’s why, if you see that a wagering site enables digital currencies, don’t think twice. Just pick a cryptocurrency wallet and start wagering like a pro.

Quality Customer Service

The difference between a mediocre and a top wagering site is often in the quality of customer support they offer. The best UFC betting sites will provide 24/7 customer support service. What is more, they will offer this service via live chat, phone, and email.

No one should underestimate the importance of support staff resolving a bothersome issue in the middle of the night. For example, European UFC fans who bet on fights taking place in North America have to wager after midnight. Only round the clock customer support can solve a problem which would happen in situations such as these.

mma betting BONUSES

MMA Betting Bonuses & Offers

Once a punter has done all of this groundwork, he can start looking at things such as MMA betting bonuses & offers. This is the interesting part of the betting provider search as it enables bettors to look at some really enticing promotions.

There are many different bonuses that UFC betting sites tend to offer. These include promotions and offers such as:

  • Welcome bonuses,
  • loyalty programs,
  • enhanced odds,
  • prop bets,
  • cash out.

Quality bonus offers a signal that the bookmaker takes great care to reward its new and loyal customers. This is synonymous with a credible betting provider and one that will sweeten lots of UFC bets.

Welcome Offers

The most lucrative of these are usually welcome bonuses. These new customer offers to match a punter’s first deposit up to a certain amount. For example, a betting site might offer a 100% matched deposit bonus up to €150 for all first-time clients.

Of course, this offer would also come with minimum deposit amounts and certain wagering requirements. However, even with those preconditions, a bonus such as this one is still quite rewarding.

Enhanced Odds

Another type of promotion that UFC betting operators offer is enhanced betting odds. With this promo, odds on UFC fights receive a boost and become significantly higher.

For instance, the fight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov was one of the biggest in martial arts history. As such, it received special treatment from most bookmakers, and this obviously meant enhanced UFC odds. Bettors are always quite happy to get some extra winnings and big fight nights are perfect in this regard.

Cash Out Offers

Lastly, the cash-out option is also useful when wagering on the UFC. Cash-out promo is something that most top betting providers have and comes in particularly handy for a UFC bet.

Let’s say you were backing Tony Ferguson to defeat Justin Gaethje in the fight for the UFC interim lightweight title. Ferguson was the favourite to win the bout so, logically, you decided to back him with a large stake.

However, minutes into the fight, and you realized that Gaethje was actually the better of the two fighters. Not wanting to risk all that money, you pulled the plug on your bet and cashed out.

If you are a UFC enthusiast, you probably know that Gathje shocked his opponent and the betting world on that fight night. That means that whoever decided to cash out early in the fight was a happy camper once it ended.

Betting on UFC

All types of MMA betting are interesting, but nothing comes close to betting on UFC fights. Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts are always block-buster events. Organizers announce them months in advance, and once they do take place, viewership numbers go through the roof.

This means that punters can think about a UFC bet as many as several months before it actually happens. What is more, the two fighters usually engage in a war of words for weeks on end coming into the fight. This makes for very interesting betting previews which are as entertaining as they are informative.

In fact, if you thought that Octagon jabs were the most painful thing in the world, you have obviously never seen the verbal jabs during fight night previews.

Once a bettor has seen all the previews and analyzed the fight, he can decide what type of bet to make.

By the way, there are two types of UFC bets: pre-fight and live bets.

Most punters decide to go with pre-fight wagers, but they can also bet during the bout. Bookmakers usually allow placing in-fight bets between rounds and the best ones would let you bet at any point during the fight.

Some of the most popular UFC bets include propositions such as:

  • fight winner 3-way,
  • fight winner 2-way,
  • fight to go the distance,
  • method of victory.

Punters can bet on these markets both before the fight starts and in the live betting section. Read on to find out how betting on these markets actually works.

How does MMA Betting Work?

So, how does MMA betting work, anyway? The first thing that a martial arts betting enthusiast must do is complete his UFC betting homework. As I said earlier, this means analyzing how the two fighters are doing and watching the fight previews.

After a punter has made his choice, he can proceed to place his bet. If this is his first wager, he should register with a betting operator. The new customer welcome bonus that he will get will make the deal all the sweeter there.

Once all this has been covered, it is time to make a bet. Let’s say the fight that the bettor is wagering on is Amanda Nunes against Felicia Spencer. Nunes is the undisputed champion in her weight class so she should make light work of her challenger for the featherweight title.

As a result, the punter clicks on the fight winner proposition and chooses Nunes to win in the 3-way market. The odds he gets are quite small, but he compensates for that by putting down a larger stake.

Sure enough, as soon as the fight starts, the punter sees that Nunes will triumph easily. Therefore, he also decides to back her in the in-play betting section.

When the fight finishes, the three judges make a unanimous decision that Nunes outfought and outclassed her opponent. This means that the punter has made a significant profit even on some modest odds.

MMA Odds Explained

For instance, most Amanda Nunes fights come with lower odds as she is literally head and shoulders above everyone else in not one, but two weight categories. In addition to featherweight, she is the best bantamweight fighter too. That’s why it is only appropriate that my MMA odds explained example features the Brazilian Lioness once again.

In the fight in this example; however, Nunes was defending her bantamweight title. Her fans probably still remember vividly that Saturday (May 12, 2018), when she absolutely destroyed Raquel Pennington in the middle of Rio.

It is fair to say that the pre-fight odds reflected the eventual outcome of the bout too. Nunes’ minuscule odds of 1.30 (match winner 2-way market) were a perfect example of how favourites get much lower odds.

UFC betting beginners should know that most favourites get significantly lower odds than underdogs. Backing them with a larger stake or combining them with other selections can compensate for this to some extent.

When it came to Pennington, she got odds of 3.20 in the same market. These higher odds meant that she was unlikely to beat Nunes. Bookmakers usually get odds spot on, and a difference such as the one here is a good indicator that one of the fighters is much better.

Betting on MMA on Mobile

As with all other sports, betting on MMA on mobile devices is a possibility that most punters explore. In fact, for the majority of bettors, placing a bet on a UFC fight via a mobile device is the preferred choice.

Let’s say you are backing Jon Jones to beat Dominick Reyes using a mobile app. Let’s also say that this is the first time that you are betting on the UFC using a mobile device. The first thing which you will notice is how easy it is to place that bet.

If you use a desktop computer, you would have to open a browser, type the address of the betting site, go through the thousands of events for that day and several other things too. If you are coming slightly late to the party, the UFC fight might start before you place your bet.

This is never the case when betting via a mobile app or even a mobile browser. You simply click on the app in your menu, search for MMA, find Jones vs Reyes, and back the American power-house to win. This is true both for the main fight markets and for more peripheral prop bets.

Other perks that a mobile app offers include:

  • complete compatibility with all payment options,
  • easy-to-access customer support,
  • safe and secure,
  • simple activation of bonuses.

All of these factors make betting on the UFC via a mobile betting app simpler and quicker than using a desktop site. What is more, placing a bet through a mobile device is as safe as a betting experience can be. Therefore, the decision to bet on the go comes naturally to most punters.

Conclusion

Mixed martial arts and the UFC are quite popular at the moment, and you can say the same thing about betting on them. However, to get the best out of any martial arts betting experience, you need to bet at only the top UFC betting sites.

These are sites that hold valid licenses, have the latest security certificates, offer lots of banking methods, and have 24/7 customer support.

Another thing characteristic of these sites is the superior selection of bonuses and promotions they have. Betting at a UFC bookmaker with enticing promotions can increase winnings significantly.

Lastly, punters should also know that if they are after the best markets and odds, going with reputable betting sites is the only option. The best UFC bookmakers have the best betting propositions and trump other operators in this regard too.

References

  1. https://www.dli.mn.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/official_unified_rules_MMA.pdf
  2. https://www.espn.com/mma/
  3. https://www.ufc.com/about/sport

 

FAQ

  • Where can I bet on MMA?

    You can bet on MMA fights at online betting sites which have them in their offers. However, also be careful to only bet at reputable sites.

  • Where can I bet on UFC fights?

    The best sports betting sites also boast some top quality UFC betting offers.

  • How do you bet MMA fights?

    To bet on MMA fights you need to do several things. First, analyze both fighters and see who the favourite is. Next, find a betting site which offers martial arts betting. Lastly, select your market of choice and place your bet.

  • How do I bet on MMA Canada?

    Betting on martial arts events in Canada is quite easy. All you need to do is register with a UFC betting operator which offers Canadian MMA fights and place your bet.