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Understanding MMA And UFC Betting Odds In 2024

Mixed Martial Arts is one of the most exciting sports to bet on because of how quickly the betting odds can change at any given moment. No matter how badly a fighter is losing, they always have a punchers chance to turn the fight around in an instant.

This page was created to provide guidance on the MMA betting types out there that gamblers will find at UFC sportsbooks and how to read the odds.

Types Of Wagers You Can Make While Betting On MMA Fights

General Match-Up Via Money Line Spread

Firstly, and most obviously, you can bet on the general fight outcome in a single fight via the money line spread. Whether a fighter wins or loses under any circumstances. This is the most general bet you can make and relies on simply picking one fighter to come out dominant over another regardless of how they manage to do it.

An example of a money line spread is Derek Brunson vs Anderson Silva.  Derek Brunson is -150 while Anderson Silva is +120.  This essentially means that you need to wager $150 to win $100 if you bet on Brunson, and a $100 wager on Silva will return $120 since he is the underdog.

Typically you need to pay more if you are betting on the favorite, where as you get better odds if you bet on the underdog.

Method Of Victory

You can also place bets on how you think a fighter will win their fight. In MMA, you can win a fight by knock out, submission, or judge’s decision. If you find yourself betting on a fighter with a high knockout percentage against a guy who has a weak chin you may stand to make a winning bet by choosing the method by which your fighter will win.

These types of bets usually offer better odds since you are picking the exact way a fighter needs to win.

MMA Round Betting

Which round will the fight come to an end in? That’s the question that’s being answered with this type of betting. You’re already set on the fact that this fight is not going to the judges for a decision, so this is where you can set up a lucrative bet on what round you think the submission or the knockout will come.

This would be a good idea if you’re betting against a fighter who is known to get tired and die out in a certain round and the fighter that you’re betting on has excellent knockout power and good physical fitness.

MMA Parlays

A parlay bet is a combination of two or more bets. Put simply, the more bets you have in a parlay, the higher the payout will be. For example, a 4 bet parlay in MMA where the odds were -110 would typically pay around $1,000.  However if you added just one more bet to that parlay, your winnings would jump up to $2,500.

Some sportsbooks such as Bovada allow players to place up to 12 teams in a parlay bet. Such a bet would pay out life changing money and a $100 12 teamer would pay almost $250,000.

Parlays are typically long shots, especially if you include a lot of teams. This is why they offer such enticing odds and payouts.  For the most part they are considered a sucker bet, although I do like to throw down a small bet just so I can sweat a big payout if I get extremely lucky.

Incidentally, Bovada offers the highest parlay payouts in the industry.

Over/Under

In over/under bets the sportsbook will post a total round estimate and your bet is whether the fight will push past that time or end before it. For instance, if the over/under on a fight is 2.5 rounds, this means you’re either betting on the fight to end before the half of the third round, or it’ll either go all three full rounds, or get stopped in the second half of the third round (which is extremely unlikely, but has happened).

Prop Bets

Mixed Martial Arts also has prop bets for things like “Fight of the Night” awards. Robbie Lawler vs. Rory McDonald would have been a good fight to place a prop bet on in the past. An absolutely stunning slugfest, it was known by everyone in the industry and these two fighters were going to be candidates for the “Fight of the Year” award, let alone just that night. It would have been a safe bet to make a prop bet on those two winning the “Fight of the Night” award that night.

Live MMA Betting

Once the fight begins, the betting continues with live MMA and UFC odds that update as each second ticks off of the clock. No matter what the round, as long as both MMA fighters are still standing, live UFC betting will remain on the boards at online sportsbooks.