How Does Fight Betting Work

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Betting on MMA fights has grown into a massive industry that stretches across the entire world. Top MMA promotions including the UFC have a large audience in countries all over the world.

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UFC Betting Explained. When it comes to wagering on this combat sport, you have many options like the moneyline, method of victory, and total rounds. UFC moneyline betting simply comes down to betting on who you believe is going to win the fight. For example, Conor McGregor was a -140 favorite for his fight vs Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. How does betting in a fighting ring work? I want to create an underground fighting ring (much like in the slo-mo fighting scene in the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movie) for my players to bet on and fight in but I have no idea how to go about the betting/odds side of things. Betting On The Fight Outcome When betting on boxing, you will more than likely see lines on the fight outcome. This is a general way to wager on how the fight will end, and only has five options. Each fighter will be given odds to win by knockout, technical knockout, or disqualification. The fight ends by Submission: One fighter wins by submission. It does not matter who, it just needs to end by submission. The fight ends by KO: One fighter wins by knockout or TKO. It does not matter who, just one person has to stop the other using strikes. Handicap Betting. One of the lesser known bets and one of my personal favorites is the.

Online bookmakers allow bettors to place wagers on MMA fights easily, but before you start betting on MMA, you need to learn the different types of MMA bets. Everyone knows that they can bet on who they think is going to win a fight, but there are lots of other ways to bet on MMA, which we’ll explain below.

Moneyline Bet / Match Bet

Fighter A -300 vs. Fighter B +200

A moneyline bet or match bet is when you select one fighter to win a fight by whatever means necessary. It doesn’t matter how the fighter wins the fight as long as they end up winning.

This is the most popular bet in MMA, as everyone has a prediction as to who should win all of the big MMA fights. Make sure you read over our MMA odds guide if you don’t know how to read the odds listed in our moneyline bet example above.

Parlay Bet / Accumulator Bet / Multiplier Bet

Depending on where you live a parlay, accumulator or multiplier is a wager with multiple sections. For the sake of this article, I will refer to this bet as a parlay.

For instance, if you think three fighters will win you could bet on all three with a parlay bet to increase the payout odds. The only way you’ll win the parlay is if you end up winning all of the selections you make on the bet.

Even if just one of the fight’s lost the parlay will be a loser, and you won’t win anything. Parlays are great when betting on a couple of favorites since the odds are increased but so is the risk.

Open Parlay

An open parlay is when you decide to make a bet, and you use the option to leave spots open. You don’t have to select them right away but the number of spots you leave open need to be filled before the bet is complete.

These are fun if you want to bet on many fights or events, but you’re not sure on your selections yet. 5 Dimes offer this option, and you can have up to 25 open spots.

Over/Under Bet

Fighter A vs. Fighter B – Over 2.5 Round -115 / Under 2.5 Rounds +105

One of the easiest ways to bet on an MMA fight is by betting the over/under. In an over/under bet the bookie will post a round total, and you need to bet on whether the fight will last longer or shorter than the round total.

Over under odds are posted to the bookies desecration. But they are fairly standard across the board.

Here are some examples of the Over Under listings.

Over Under 1.5 Rounds – Usually found when two aggressive fighters fight.

To win the over bet, the bout must pass 2.5mins of the second round.
To win the under the fight needs to end before 2.5mins of round two.

Over Under 2.5 Rounds – This is what you will see offered the most.

To win the over bet, the bout must pass 2.5mins of the third round.
To win the under the fight needs to end before 2.5mins of round three.

Over Under 3.5 rounds – You will see the option in most championship fights, fights that have five rounds.

To win the over bet, the bout must pass 2.5mins of the fourth round.
To win the under the fight needs to end before 2.5mins of round four.

Round Betting

Several MMA sportsbooks allow bettors to bet on what round they think the fight will finish in, and the payout odds are much better when betting this way.

You can also bet on a fighter to win the fight during a certain round as well, which is another great MMA bet with excellent payout odds.

Method of Victory

There are three ways to win a fight in MMA including KO, Submission, and Points. If you think you know how a fight is going to end and want to make some money, you can bet on the method of victory at several bookmakers.

Variations of this bet are available.

Inside the Distance: A fighter wins by KO or Submission. He finishes the fight one way or another, i.e. Inside the Distance.

The fight ends by Submission: One fighter wins by submission. It does not matter who, it just needs to end by submission.

The fight ends by KO: One fighter wins by knockout or TKO. It does not matter who, just one person has to stop the other using strikes.

Handicap Betting

One of the lesser known bets and one of my personal favorites is the handicap bet. It’s where the book offers odds giving a fighter a (+) or (-) points amount before the fight.

The odds with this bet are lower than the odds for a moneyline bet, but used smartly and in Parlays can be profitable.

Examples of Handicap Bets

3 Round fight, fighter A is the favorite.

Fighter A -3.5
Fighter B +3.5

If either fighter wins by KO, TKO, or DQ, that fighter wins the handicap regardless of the scoring at the time of the stoppage.

The fight completes all scheduled rounds, and the judges score the fight.

Scores of Fighter A 30-27, Fighter A 29-28, Fighter A 29-28

Fighter A wins a unanimous decision based on these scores.

The cumulative score for Fighter A is 30+29+29 = 88
The cumulative score for Fighter B is 27+28+28 = 83

So now we use the handicap scores to get our result.

Fighter A has a total of 88 – 3.5 = 84.5
Fighter B has a total of 83 + 3.5 = 86.5

Despite losing the fight, Fighter B would win the handicap bet based on this outcome.

Let’s do a five round fight, and again Fighter A is the favorite.

Fighter A -5.5
Fighter B +5.5

Scores of Fighter A 50-45, Fighter A 50-45, Fighter A 48-47.

Fighter A wins a unanimous decision based on these scores, and one judge did give Fighter B one round.

The cumulative score for Fighter A is 50+50+49 = 148
The cumulative score for Fighter B is 45+45+46 = 136

So now we use the handicap scores to get our result.

Fighter A has a total of 149 – 5.5 = 143.5
Fighter B has a total of 136 + 5.5 = 141.5

Fighter A would win the handicap bet on this fight. This bet is excellent, and you can use it if you think a guy has a great chance to win the fight, but the moneyline odds are not too appealing. The odds will be slightly higher. You can also use these bets in Parlays. There one of the best bets you can do if you pick them smartly.

A rule of thumb is, if a fighter wins a round on all three judges scorecards, he will usually win the handicap. But don’t forget about 10-8 rounds, I have had occasions where a fighter clearly won a round but lost the handicap.

This bet can only be found on 5 Dimes. If you like betting on the UFC I highly recommend you make an account there.

Decision Victories

You can bet on decision victories too. You can bet this a few ways the most popular one would be Fighter A wins by decision. Can be any decision it just needs to go to points.

There are more creative decision bets available too.

A fighter wins by “Unanimous Decision” when all three judges score him as the winner.

A fighter wins by “Split-Decision” when two judges score him as the winner and one judge scores the other fighter as the winner.

A fighter wins by “Majority Decision” when two judges score him as the winner and one judge scores the fight a draw.

Live UFC Betting

Betting live on fights is a lot of fun and a good way to make money if you carefully select spots. Generally, there are two types of live betting sites. One is sites that let you bet in between rounds and the other is live betting throughout the fight. We have a full live betting guide here.

Prop Bets

Bettors can wager on a few prop bets in MMA including several very popular UFC prop bets. If you watch the UFC, you may know that they have awards for Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night. The odds on these bets are usually high.

For your reference, here are some definitions of the different terms you might need to know when making your MMA or sports bets:

Bookie: Short for sportsbook. Also known as oddsmaker, betting website and fightbook. There are very specific sportsbooks in Canada that focus on MMA and UFC betting.

Chalk: The expected winner of the fight or favorite, and usually the person with the best odds; almost always negative odds.

Disqualified Opponent: The fight is stopped by the judge or referee, one of the fighters has violated the rules consistently. The violating fighter automatically loses the fight.

Draw: Scorecard draw (not to be confused with technical draw). The bet is a push.

Edge: What you know that leverages your advantage about the upcoming fight that sportsbooks don’t. The more of an edge you have, the better chances you will walk away with some green in your jeans, all because you took the time to research the fighters.

Even Money (EVN): When two fighters are evenly matched, it’s even odds if either one wins.

Favorite: The fighter that is expected to win – and almost always with odds that just aren’t worth it. Betting on favorites is always more valuable with undercard fights as explained in our MMA gambler guide.

KO: Abbreviation for Knockout. When the boxer does not stand up after a count of 10.

Limit: This is the maximum or minimum that you can bet. This is to ensure that you don’t lose too much, or because the house needs to control how much they can pay out.

Line: The odds or money line of a fight.

Majority Decision: A fighter is declared winner by the judges’ scorecards. Majority Decision is defined when a fighter scores more points on 2 scorecards, but the third judge scores equally for both fighters.

Moneyline: An outright bet on who the winner will be. This MMA bet type is expressed in positive and negative values. Negative numbers indicate that the fighter is expect to win the match, positive values mean they think he’s the underdog.

Odds: This is the info that determines how the bets will be placed. The better the odds, the less likely that the fighters are matched evenly. There are 3 types: American, decimal and fractional. Learning how to read MMA odds is essential in your betting strategy.

Opened: This is what the moneline was when it first opened. The moneyline will shift as you get closer to the day of the fight.

Parlay: An accumulator in which several bets are tied together into a single one to increase paying odds. All events have to win in order for the parlay to pay. MMA Parlays are profitable, but risky.

Prop Bet: Short for proposition bet, an exotic bet on an occurrence or non-occurrence not directly affecting the fight’s final outcome. MMA prop bets focus on Round Bets and Method of Victory, and the FOTN.

Push: A draw in the bet – no fighter is crowned winner, and your money is given back to you.

Split Decision: The judge’s scorecard define a winner on 2 scorecards while the third one gives the opponent as the winner.

Sportsbook: The online website that will determine the value of the moneyline, as well as where you can actually place your bet.

TKO: Abbreviation for Technical Knock Down. The fighter is knocked down 3 times, or when the referee steps in and stops the fight after evaluating the fighter is in no condition to continue. Corner retirements are also TKO´s, unless the judge´s decide the fight by the scorecards or declare a No Contest.

Technical Decision: The winner is decided by the scorecard points between the judges (usually 3). Technical decision is settled at any time other than at the end of the programmed rounds.

Technical Draw: When the referee stops the fight before the start of the 5th round, for any reason other than Knockout, Technical Knockout or disqualification.

Unanimous Decision: The same fighter scoring more points on all three scorecards.

In-Play or Live Betting Terms

Live Betting: Also known as Inplay bets, these are bets placed once the fight has begun. Live bets include very specific wagers that are only available after the first bell.

Fight Winner 3-Way: Betting selections on the 3 most common betting types (win, lose or draw).

Draw-No-Bet: Type of bet in which your fighter either wins and pays out, or draws and the stakes are returned. This includes fights that end in Majority Draw. Draw-No-Bet pays lower that a straight bet.

Fight Winner 2-Way: Offered on fights where no draw is possible, like Prize Fighter.

Fight Outcome 5-Way: Type of bets offered on pre-match.

Fight Outcome 4-Way: Offered on fights where no draw is possible, like Prize Fighter.

Total Rounds 2-Way: Type of Round Bet in which the last Round fought is used for settlement purposes. If the fighter retires on his stool between Rounds, 4 and 5 for example, then Round 4 will be settled for the Round Bet.

Round Groups/Round Betting: A bet on the exact round the fight will finish. The fight can be determined by KO/TKO, submission or disqualification on that specific round. If a fighter retires in between fights, the previous Round will be settled as that was the last full Round. In the event of Technical Decision before the fight ends, all bets will be settled as winner as per Decision.

To Go the Distance: A bet on the fighters completing the full number of Rounds designated.

How To Benefit From Betting

MMA Prop Betting Terms

Method of Victory: A bet based on how the fight will end for a particular fighter. KO/TKO, Submission or Decision.

Points Handicap: A bet on the over/under total points on the judge’s scorecard decision. All 3 total scores are considered.

FOTN Props: Prop bets on “Fighter of the Night Awards”. The three awards are Knockout of the Night (KOTN), Submission of the Night (SOTN), and Fight of the Night (FOTN).

FOTN: A bet on which fighter will win the Fighter of the Night Award.

KOTN: A bet on which fighter will win the Knockout of the Night Award.

SOTN: A bet on which fighter will win Submission of the Night Award.

External Resources

(1) bet365.com, Rules Sports Boxing UFC, 2016