Betting on Boxing, UFC and MMA Betting Sites

On an event by event basis punters wager more on average for top level boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) than the likes of football or even horse racing. This is largely because most fight fans bet on the winner of a bout and in order to make it worthwhile you will often need to stake decent sums to get a good return.

If you are going to bet big on boxing or MMA it helps to know where to bet, as even a small difference in odds can have a significant impact on returns. Alternatively, if you would like to bet on these sports but you want keep your stakes lower there are some fantastic altnernative markets now available through online betting. Round betting, method of victory and points wagers are becoming more popular than ever, especially as most fights can now be bet on live in play, and many of these lines offer longer odds compared to typical outright markets.

In this guide we will discuss which are the best bookies for betting on boxing and MMA, where you can find the best odds and offers, what bet types are available and how to bet, as well as major events and the history of boxing.

Betting on boxing is very straight forward compared to many sports. Bouts are fought between just two competitors which means markets focus around the match result, round result, score or points, and method of victory.

Of course some bets offer better value than others and in this section we discuss the relative merits of different bet types available for UFC, Boxing and other MMA events.

To Win Flight / Match Up Betting

This is the most common market available and you will find this is also therefore the most competitive. A quick scan of an odds comparison website will show you where you can get the best raw odds and this is also the main market for attracting the best betting offers.

The main problem with outright result betting is many fights are not evenly matched and this means there are often strong favourites against long odds outsiders. In this scenario many would prefer to bet on other markets where returns are more favourable.

For UFC the outright result market is often termed ‘Match Up’ but basically it is the same thing, who will win the fight.

Round Betting

Punters can bet before a fight on which round their fighter will win in. This is a good way of getting better odds on the favourite if you have a strong opinion on how long the fight might last. This line is generally not as competitive so it’s worth having a bookie you trust to give you good odds if you like to place these bets. It is also unlikely you’ll see many offers for this market.

Round betting in play is more popular but of course as the fight progresses the odds will decrease.

The round betting market is also where you can bet on the fight being awarded by decision or technical decision in boxing or by points in UFC. Here you can also wager on a draw or technical draw.

Total Rounds – Over/Under

There are two choices with this market, either wager on the exact number of rounds or bet over/under a given number of rounds. This obviously is higher in boxing than UFC, in boxing the average over/under value will be between 7.5 to 10.5, for UFC this will be 1.5 or 2.5.

Total round betting is competitive enough that odds tend to be decent and you do occasionally get offers or enhanced price boosts for this type of bet.

Many bookies will only offer you just a single over/under market but more will be available on request if you get in touch with them.

Grouped Round Betting

Round group betting is a variation on round betting but instead of betting on the exact round a fighter will win in you instead predict the result within a range of rounds, for example, rounds 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. It is also possible to bet on the win, decision, technical decision or draw/technical draw within these ranges.

Bookie margins for this bet type will not be as good for the punter compared with the outright result so it is only really worth placing these bets if you again have a strong opinion on when the fight will finish.

Round by Round In Play

The best way to place multiple bets on the same flight is to bet round by round during the fight in play. This is only really worth doing if you are watching the fight live so that you can make informed wagers.

William Hill are a good bookie for this type of wager, since they boost prices live in play and have tons of in play specials for Sky and Box Nation fights.

Fight to go the Distance

This is a simple yes or no wager however it can be a good option in fights where there are strong favourites.

Let’s say you have a 1/10 favourite and you think he will win the fight. Unless you have a lot of spare cash to stake then it’s not worth betting on him at that price. If, however you think his opponent is good enough to take the fight the whole distance this can be a better option to give bigger returns. Again this market occasionally attracts a promotion or two.

Fight Outcome / Method of Victory

Different bookies have various names for this market and they will often have a different terminology for boxing compared to UFC. The bet is fairly self-explanatory, you need to predict how the fight will ultimately end.

Here you can wager on just one fight outcome such as knockout, technical knockout, draw, technical draw, disqualification, submission, fight stopped by referee, etc. Alternatively, there are groups bets available where you can predict the fight to end in a range of ways, e.g for UFC you could punt on the fight to end by Knockout, technical knockout, disqualification or submission vs. decision or technical decision vs. draw.

Again don’t expect amazing prices for these bets, you will also only find this kind of market depth with the bigger bookies or our recommended betting sites. It is however quite common to see promotions for this market so be on the lookout and keep an eye on our latest boxing offers if you like to bet this way.

Possible Fights

Many bookies are now offering prices on possible future bouts or match ups but are these worth betting on? In many ways no because it means locking down your stake for potentially a long time and the fight might not even go ahead. There are times however where this market will give you a much better price than if you were to wait.

If you think for example your fighter is going to improve hugely over the next few months then this is a fantastic way to lock in some good odds.

Outright Champion

Another common wager is to predict the next fighter to win their division, championship or belt. This is a great market again if you think you’ve spotted the next heavyweight champion before everyone else.

Prices vary wildly for this type of bet so it really is worth shopping around. Many online bookmakers will not display prices for this so you may need to get in touch with them for odds.

Live In Play Betting and Streaming

Boxing and UFC are perfect live betting sports. The nature of a fighting sports means it all comes down to the fighters on the day with very few other variables. Unlike other sports the equipment and venue has minimal impact on the final results. Here you can get best live casino bonus.

Big boxing and UFC bouts generate such large amounts of cash through the selling of TV rights that there is not much in the way of streaming of top level flights by online bookmakers. Many of our top sites provide in play graphics and some have audio commentaries but to get the best out of in play betting you should watch the fight live on TV.