Any sport event (or even non-sport event) that attracts public attention and the interest of people, will immediately attract the interest of bettors around the world and the bookmakers alike.
Betting on Mixed Martial Arts is of course no exception to that. In fact, MMA betting is nowhere near being new. It has been around for a long time now, and in the last years it has been experiencing an ever increasing interest on the part of bettors.
Much of this growth can be attributed to the surge in the volumes of UFC betting in Germany and the rest of Europe, following the spike in the US. Bookies are following the demand for betting on this sport and are offering more and more different betting markets to satisfy and meet their customers’ wants.
For those who are still new to MMA and Boxing betting, here are some basic things they need to know regarding the different markets and types of bets.
Most popular bets on MMA and Boxing
Mixed Martial Arts Betting
The main betting market that the bookies offer in Mixed Martial Arts is the outcome of the fight, or simply Moneyline bet, which is about picking which of the MMA fighters will win the fight in the end. In UFC betting this is by far the most betted on market by punters.
Total Rounds is the second most common market and is almost always offered by sportsbooks. Here you just predict how many rounds will the fight last until we have finally a winner. These bets are over/under in their format, meaning that they are given in an Under rounds/ Over rounds manner to the bettors.
The Method of Victory is also extremely popular in MMA betting (some bookies include the Draw as well) and bettors can choose among a number of options including Knockout, Technical Knockout, Submission, Decision, Technical Decision and Disqualification.
Sportsbooks also give punters the opportunity to bet on the winner of specific rounds or generally wager on some outcome in rounds, the known Round bets. Here, for example, bettors can wager on the exact round that a fighter will win. Round betting is generally gaining ground lately, as it is a lucrative market with bookmakers giving really attractive odds and prices.
Boxing betting
Boxing betting involves pretty much the same markets as the ones found in MMA betting, but it needs to be stressed that the depth of the betting market largely depends on the popularity and the public attention that the boxing fight expects to get.
Boxing is a less popular sport compared to MMA, something that is also evident from the betting offerings of bookmakers. Unlike MMA, boxing betting is usually covered with the most basic markets like Moneyline.
Only when there is a big upcoming fight, will sportsbooks commit their resources to develop a wider list of betting markets to offer many different possible bets to their customers, including Totals, Method of Victory, Round betting etc.
Simply put, when it comes to a major fight, things are different. A big fight means probably more rounds and more rounds mean more things to bet on, more markets and more prop bets. So, it means greater variety of betting markets and more depth of betting markets.
Thus, we can come across more unusual betting markets such as Grouped Round Bets where we are given odds for a fighter to win for a set of rounds such as 1-6 or even smaller sets such as 1-2. A draw is also offered by bookies as it is known to be part of the fight.
What to watch out for in MMA betting
Knowing as much as possible about a sport and its athletes is of course the best starting point for getting involved in it and betting on it.
Constant data search and data gathering are also things that can keep bettors at a good level in terms of value recognition at one point. Beyond that, a good knowledge of the rules of the sport is essential, as they have a significant impact on betting on it as well.
However, it is not only the regulations of the sport that we need to know but also the regulations set by each bookmaker regarding the sport and its markets, which may differ from one betting site to another. So spend some time getting to know them, as they may affect your game quite a bit in some cases.