MMA has grown in popularity in recent years and sportsbooks have started offering bets on the sport. Betting on MMA fights can be lucrative if you understand the game and use smart strategies. The first step to a successful MMA betting strategy is choosing a reputable online sportsbook. Make sure that the site offers a variety of betting lines and accepts your preferred method of payment. Next, find an event on the MMA calendar and choose a fighter to place a wager on. Once you have made your selection, you can add additional bets to your wager slip, including round and method of victory props.
Depending on the matchup, style of each fighter and the number of rounds scheduled for the fight, oddsmakers will set an Over/Under total. They will then assign a price for the Over/Under, known as the vig or juice, to reflect the implied probability of the total reaching that amount.
If a fighter is listed with minus odds (example: -200), they are considered the underdog in the fight, while if a fighter is given plus odds (example: +100) then they are considered the favorite. Betting on a favored fighter will yield a greater profit than if you placed a bet on an underdog. MMA fights can be very unpredictable and even a seasoned pro can lose to an underdog, so don’t be afraid to take the under.
While many MMA fans will back their favorite to win the fight, this can be risky. A single knockout punch by an underdog can ruin a fighter’s career, and the chances of this happening are much higher in an MMA fight. For this reason, many bettors will instead opt to place Method of Victory or Round Bets on their picks. These bets are more precise than the moneyline and Over/Under, and will generally yield a larger payout.
Method of victory bets offer a chance to earn a large payout by picking the specific method of victory in a given round. These bets can be placed on both KO and TKO finishes, as well as submissions and disqualifications. These bets are not as common in MMA as Over/Under bets, but they can be profitable for those that understand the sport and know when a specific type of finish will occur.
Another popular MMA betting option is to place a bet on the Over/Under for the number of rounds in a particular fight. This bet is very similar to the Over/Under on Method of Victory, but rather than predicting which fighter will win a particular round, bettors are predicting how many rounds a fight will last. This is a great bet for those who have a good understanding of the round lengths in an MMA fight and how many rounds tend to be won by each fighter. The best way to place a Round Bet is to use an MMA fighting clock that can be found on most MMA betting sites.