Probably the most comprehensive MMA betting Guide in Canada!
Mixed Martial Arts have become extremely popular around the world. The UFC is the top professional organization for MMA, but there are many others, including Bellator.
While each individual organization will have their own slight set of rules and obviously different fighters and events, the betting on each works relatively the same.
If you're new to MMA betting, this MMA betting guide will help you understand how it all works. This will better prepare you for how to get in on the exciting action of betting on MMA.
Choose Your Promotion
As mentioned, there are a few main MMA professional promotions, or organizations, out there. These work essentially like different leagues. They have different fighters signed up for their promotion, and they hold separate events that only include their contracted fighters.
The matchups themselves work essentially the same, with the point scoring being the same and the rules and regulations being similar as well.
So, the first step in betting on MMA is to understand the different promotions and choose the ones that you want to wager on.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the most popular and is widely considered to have the most talented fighters in the world. Bellator MMA is another popular one, and there is also Fight Nights Global (FNG) and Absolute Championships Akhmat (ACA) as well as others.
Understand How the Fights Work
The term Mixed Martial Arts means that the fighters in the ring are allowed to use a mix of different martial arts disciplines to win the fight. They can box, kickbox, wrestle, use judo and jiu-jitsu.
The goal for each fighter is to either knock out their opponent, submit their opponent or win based on points. There are three judges for every MMA fight, and they are scoring each round based on a number of different factors, including takedowns, knockdowns, punches landed, etc.
Normal MMA fights last three rounds, and championship fights last five rounds. It's important that you understand how the MMA fights work so that you know how you are going to be allowed to wager on them.
Study the Fighters
MMA fights are strictly a one-on-one matchup. This makes it relatively easy to wager on the sport, since you'll be picking one fighter or the other -- and that’s basically it. The wagering itself is simple and straightforward, which is what makes it so great.
That being said, if you want to be successful wagering on MMA, you need to study the fighters who are involved in each matchup. First, obviously look at the fighters' records. You want to see how they've performed overall, but also how they've performed recently to see if they're on a good or bad streak.
Next, take a look at any past matchups between the two fighters. This will help in the head-to-head angle of the fight. Then, take a look at the two fighters' styles and how well they match up against the other style.This will go a long way in determining which fighter might end up winning the fight.
You should also look to see if the fighters have any bad blood between them. MMA is a very intense sport, and oftentimes, fighters will have extra motivation because they have bad blood between them outside of the ring.
Know the Wagers Available
Finally, you should understand what wagers would be available to you when you're betting on MMA.
The most common wager is picking the winner of a particular fight. This works just like moneyline wagers do for other sports. You'll simply pick the fighter who you think will win a particular matchup.
The sportsbook will set odds based on who they think is the favorite and who they think is the underdog. For example, an upcoming fight at LFA 128 (the Legacy Fighting Alliance) pits Sarek Shields against Thad Jean.
Example odds for the moneyline wager could be:
- Sarek Shields +130
- Thad Jean - 163
This means that if you bet $100 on Shields and he won, you'd net $130. Likewise, you'd need to wager $163 on Jean to win $100.
Another option would be to wager on MMA props. One of the most popular types of prop wagers on MMA is the over/under. This deals with simply how many rounds you think the fight will last.
For example, in a three-round bout, you could wager over/under 0.5 rounds, 1.5 rounds and 2.5 rounds. The sportsbook would set different odds for the over and under for each of those totals, and then you'd either be wagering that the fight would go over or under that many rounds.
Some sportsbooks will also provide props on whether a fight starts round 2, round 3, etc. This is a type of popular prop bet that you can place on MMA as well.
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