Today MMA is booming. Mixed Martial Arts are a combination of different styles of combat sports and martial arts. It is a full-contact sport that mixes the best aspects of certain disciplines like jiu-jitsu, boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, muay Thai, karate, and judo. The objective is to beat the opponent by using different striking and fighting techniques.
Even though this sport is quite new, (its origins date back to the 90s.) its popularity keeps growing really fast, becoming a sport that gathers an audience as large as the boxing audience. And as the audience increases, so do the number of bettors in each fight. MMA betting, especially on UFC tournaments, is one of the most sought-after in the world of sports lately.
In fact, betting on this sport moves millions of dollars a year. While it is most popular in America, it is widely expanding to Europe, where there is actually a very large crowd that follows this sport too. This is another reason why bets on MMA are growing exponentially; more and more bettors want to learn how to bet on MMA.
Why is MMA more popular nowadays?
In the past, this sport was considered barbaric, and rightly so! Since it was a sport that had basically no rules and everything was allowed. However, today things have changed… A lot!
Nowadays, the MMA has strict rules, even though it may not seem so. Such rules were stipulated in order to protect the athletes from getting hurt or severe damage. Yes, it is true that MMA still allows a lot of action and it is really rough and violent sport, but, it has evolved, featuring weight categories, more rules, and round limits. In addition, it was also created a list of fouls that cannot be committed during the fight.
This new “format” given to the MMA by the new rules, made it more accepted by a larger majority, leading to a larger audience following the sport. Since then, the sport has gained millions of followers, turning it into a million-dollar business.
How to bet on MMA
If you are just getting started in MMA betting you probably have a lot of doubts, or you may not even know where to start. But don’t worry, it’s not difficult at all and we will explain everything about it.
How to read MMA odds
The first thing you need to learn is how to read the betting odds table, both for MMA fights and for any other combat sport. The most common betting tables show the money line odds of both fighters.
Before each fight, the money lines of each fighter are published, one will appear with a plus sign and the other with a minus sign in order to indicate who is the underdog and who is the favorite to win the fight.
The minus sign is assigned to the favorite, and the larger the negative number, the greater the expectation that this fighter will be the winner.
The plus sign is assigned to the underdog, and as with the minus sign, the larger the number, the greater the odds of a loss.
What is MMA betting like?
Most of the bets placed on fights are straight bets. This means that you bet on who will be the winner. As mentioned above, the money lines establish who is the favorite fighter to win the fight and who is the underdog.
As you can imagine, betting on the favorite is usually a safe bet, therefore it does not generate many rewards; however, when you bet on the underdog because the odds are against you, the winnings you receive if you win the bet are greater.
When betting solely on the money line, you can win by a submission, a decision or any form of stoppage.
Support bets in MMA
In certain fights, various prop bets are allowed that arise when a fight is close or generates a great deal of interest. Such as, for example, over/under bets and round bets. There are also many other prop bets on MMA fights.
Because these bets carry a higher risk, as they may require an accurate outcome, they generate a higher payout.
Over/under bets
This involves betting on the expected length of the fight, rather than on a specific winner. In other words, you bet on the odds based on the expected length of the fight, as set by the bookmakers.
Suppose a fight has a 4 round (a round lasts five minutes); betting on the over means that you are betting that the fight will end after the fourth round. On the other hand, if you bet on the under, it means that you are betting that the fight will end before the fourth round.
The end of the fight can be given a stoppage, a technical decision, or a disqualification.
Round bets
In this case, bets are placed on a specific winner in a specific round. You must bet on the exact round in which the stoppage will occur.
This type of bet is more accurate than the money line and the over/under, thus generating more profit.
