How to Bet on UFC Online in the UK
Here’s how to bet on UFC in a few simple steps:
- If you’re new to betting, sign up to one of our recommended sports betting sites in the UK. Should you already hold an account with a bookmaker, then simply log into your account.
- You will need funds in your account to bet with. If you don’t have any money in your account, make a deposit, with your chosen payment method.
- Find the UFC/MMA section and the particular fight that you’re interested in.
- Look through the various markets and choose the bet that you want to place. Tap on the odds to add to your betslip.
- Now enter your stake, which is the amount of money that you want to bet with.
- Check that everything is correct and if so, click Place Bet to confirm your wager.
- Enjoy your UFC fight and hope that your bet is successful.
How Does UFC Betting Work?
The growth in popularity of MMA, and in-particular UFC, has created a popular new gambling strand for UK bookmakers. It’s a sport that just about every bookie now covers, with Dana White’s UFC being the main MMA organisation, which puts on the biggest and best pay-per-view (PPV) events.
UFC fights can be exciting and unpredictable. With bouts tending to be competitively matched, the betting odds reflect that and are often close. The huge variety of styles and disciplines that exist within the UFC ensures that you can often make an argument for either fighter winning.
When it comes to how to bet on UFC fights online, there are a variety of options. Of course, you can bet on the result of the fight, but there are many different markets, where extra value bets can be found. We’re going to take a look at some of those types of bets in the next section.
Popular UFC Markets
Let’s take a look at some of the different types of UFC betting markets for upcoming fights that can be found through online bookmakers. These are popular fight betting options::
- Fight Result – Bet on who will win the UFC contest.
- Fight Winner by Finish – With this market you bet on both the winner and whether the fight will end in a finish. If it goes to decision then the wager is made void.
- Total Rounds Over/Under – Bet on whether there will be over or under, a total amount of rounds.
- To Go The Distance – Will the fight go the distance or not?
- Fighter & Winning Method – This is a double bet in which you have to predict the winner of the fight and the method of victory, such as decision, KO/TKO/DQ, or submission.
- Winning Method – With this bet you just bet on the method of victory, which can apply to either fighter winning.
- Double Chance – Predict the winner of the fight and also pick two of the three possible winning methods.
- Winning Round – Bet on the round that the fight will end in.
- Fighter and Winning Round – Combine a bet on who will win the fight and what will be the winning round.
- Winning Combination – Predict the fight winner, method of victory and winning round.
- Alternative Winning Combination – Bet on just the winning method and final round, regardless of which fighter wins.
Who Should I Bet on in UFC?
For people learning how to bet on the UFC, the question of which fighter to bet on can be a tricky one. Someone that is fairly new to watching the sport, could be drawn to big names and experienced fighters that they’ve heard of previously, such as Conor McGregor, whose career is on the wane.
A useful tool to look at before taking a punt are the UFC rankings, which are regularly updated. The fighters signed up to the promotion are split into different UFC weight classes and ranked. You can then look into the highest ranked fighters and study their record of fights.
Just like when betting on boxing, each weight division has its own UFC champion. Here are the current titleholders:
| Men’s Heavyweight Champion | Jon Jones |
| Men’s Light Heavyweight Champion | Jamahal Hill |
| Men’s Middleweight Champion | Israel Adesanya |
| Men’s Welterweight Champion | Leon Edwards |
| Men’s Lightweight Champion | Islam Makhachev |
| Men’s Featherweight Champion | Alexander Volkanovski |
| Men’s Bantamweight Champion | Sean O’Malley |
| Men’s Flyweight Champion | Alexandre Pantoja |
| Women’s Bantamweight Champion | Vacant |
| Women’s Flyweight Champion | Alexa Grasso |
| Women’s Strawweight Champion | Zhang Weili |
UFC Weight Classes
Having seen the various UFC champions, you may be wondering how the different weight classes work. Here is a breakdown, giving all the details.
| Weight Class | Lower Limit (kg) | Upper Limit (kg) |
| Strawweight | None | 52 |
| Flyweight | 52 | 57 |
| Bantamweight | 57 | 61 |
| Featherweight | 61 | 66 |
| Lightweight | 66 | 70 |
| Welterweight | 70 | 77 |
| Middleweight | 77 | 84 |
| Light Heavyweight | 84 | 93 |
| Heavyweight | 93 | 120 |
UFC Terms Used in Betting
For those who are just learning how to bet on UFC, you may be confused by some of the terms that are commonly used. Here are some UFC betting terms explained.
- Chalk – A term used to describe the favourite.
- Disqualification – If a referee thinks that a fighter has broken the rules to often, they could be thrown out of the contest, delivering a victory to their opponent.
- Draw – When no winner can be decided and the fight is tied.
- Edge – When a punter has an advantage over the bookmaker.
- Favourite – The fighter that is expected to win by the bookies.
- KO – Short for knockout, which is when a fighter is knocked down and is unable to get back to their feet by the count of ten.
- Line –
- This is short for ‘money line’, which comes from the American term betting lines or moneyline bets for the result market odds.
- Majority Decision – The fight goes to a decision and two of the three judges declare one of the fighters as the winner and the other judge makes it a draw.
- Parlay – A US term for a multiple bet, which can also be called an accumulator or acca.
- Prop Bet – Short for the term, ‘proposition bet’. A proposition is made and then you have to bet on whether it happens or not, such as over/under 1.5 rounds.
- Split Decision – Two of the judges pick one fighter as the winner, while the remaining judge makes the other fighter the winner.
- Technical Decision – The winner is decided by the scorecard points.
- Technical Draw – When a fight is stopped before round five, for a reason other than KO, TKO or DQ.
- TKO – Short for technical knockout, which is when there are three knockdowns or the referee stops the fight.
- Unanimous Decision – All three judges pick the same fighter as the winner.
Pros & Cons of Betting on UFC
Now that you have learned a little more about how to bet on UFC, you may be wondering if there are pros and cons. As with most things in life, there are advantages and disadvantages. Here are the pros and cons as we see them.
Pros
- Fights are set up to be competitive so odds are close
- Busy schedule with packed cards create lots of betting opportunities
- Varied number of UFC betting markets
- Good potential to pick value bets when you understand the sport
Cons
- Unpredictability means that favourites often get beaten
- Steeper learning curve than when betting on other sports
Strategies of How to Bet on UFC Fights Online
With the question of how does UFC betting work, having been answered at this stage, you may be thinking of placing your first wager on the sport. Here are some betting strategies to consider when wagering on UFC, that will help your profitability.
Be Cautious of Favourites
A favourite in a betting market is generally a shorter price than the outsider, because they are likely to win. Yet more than in most sports, the UFC throws up plenty of surprises. This is a sport where a contest can end at any second and in a variety of different ways. The very best fighters have losses on their records, so be cautious about blindly backing favourites. Only do so, if your research suggests that their short odds are appropriate.
Do Your Homework
The last point brings us nicely onto this one. Do your homework. That means researching the two fighters who are about to clash. It’s relatively easy to look through the fight histories of the athletes involved. Keep an eye out for how their respective fights tend to end and when. If they’ve lost, or been in difficulties in the past, are there any patterns in terms of the type of fighters they’ve struggled against?
Weight Watchers
Earlier on, we introduced you to the various weight classes that exist within UFC. Weight can be a big factor that can impact results. Sometimes a fighter will struggle to keep making the upper limit of their weight class, as they get older. They boil down to hit their target for the weigh-in and then have only a limited amount of time to rehydrate afterwards, before the fight. If there are signs that a fighter is struggling to make weight, then it could be a good idea to back their opponent. Also look out for fighters moving up to a higher weight class. Often, their strength and punching power, will not translate against bigger fighters.
Go Light on Heavyweights
Of all the weight categories, it is heavyweight results that can be the most unpredictable. UFC heavyweights can be hugely powerful punchers and kickers, so fights can end abruptly, when someone lands with a clean shot. It can therefore make sense to be cautious about backing results in this weight class. Lower weights can be more predictable, with a higher percentage of fights going into the latter rounds and to the points cards.
Pay Attention to UFC Tipsters
Perhaps more than in many other sports, UFC has some really knowledgeable tipsters. Football for example, is a sport in which millions of people consider themselves to be something of an expert and can get work as tipsters. With a sport like UFC, which is more niche, tipsters tend to have a genuine expert knowledge. Keep a record of how UFC tipsters fare and how accurate selections are over a period of time. If they consistently generate profits from their betting tips, then it should be safe to start following their advice and place fight bets.
Where to Bet on UFC
Having learned how to bet on UFC, you may now be wondering where to bet on UFC. Once upon a time, there would have been relatively few bookmakers covering MMA. Now every serious bookie covers the sport, with the UFC getting particularly detailed coverage. That means that all of our recommended online betting sites, will cover UFC to the standard that you will expect.
The best of those is BetStorm, because of the excellent in-play graphics and live betting on offer there. They make a real effort with the UFC and other MMA organisations That aloe earns BetStorm our recommendation. Other high fliers among UFC betting sites, according to our experts, are BetUK, Rhino Bet and LiveScore Bet.
FAQs
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A writer and editor for some of the top names in the gambling industry for nearly 20 years, Dan also works as a freelance sports journalist for publications and websites such as ESPN, FourFourTwo and LiveScore.
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