The online sports betting boom has MMA in the spotlight
According to the business magazine Forbes, sports betting generates more than 300.Billion dollars a year globally. The industry has grown significantly in recent decades due to the rise of the internet. In 2020 it has experienced a peak due to the pandemic and is expected to continue to rise this year. The sports betting market is dominated by soccer and basketball, but these traditional sports have not led to a noticeable increase in the numbers lately. On the other hand, the UFC betting have experienced an exponential growth, due to the recent popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
What is Mixed Martial Arts?
Mixed Martial Arts is a contact sport that comprises hand-to-hand combat and martial arts techniques such as Karate, Boxing and Muay Thai. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the company that organizes and regulates the official legal MMA fights around the world.
How is the sport structured?
This sport is practiced in an octagon, according to the rules elaborated by the Nevada commission. Fighters can apply all the fighting techniques they know to subdue their opponent, avoiding moves that are expressly forbidden.
Each bout consists of three rounds, which becomes five if there is a title at stake. Each of them is 5 minutes long and is followed by a one minute break. Points for each round are awarded by the examining court. Assigns 10 points to the winner and 9 points or less to the loser. In case of a draw, both get 10 points.
Which categories exist?
The UFC has 9 categories that classify the fighters according to their weight. Generally, sportsmen and women oscillate between three categories. The lowest are the strawweight that goes up to 52.3 kg., fly up to 56.7 kg., and bantamweight up to 61.2 kg.
In the second bracket we find the featherweight up to 65.8 kg., the lightweight up to 70.3 kg. and welterweight up to 77.1 kg. The most robust fighters are between the middleweight up to 83.9 kg., light-heavyweight up to 93.0 kg. and the heavyweight up to 120.2 kg. In the women’s championships, athletes participate in 4 categories: straw, fly, bantam and feather.
What types of UFC betting exist?
Bets can be placed in advance or live while the event is in progress. Gamblers often bet on who will be the winner of the fight or the first round. However, this sport offers many different types of bets.
How to earn
One of the most interesting stakes in the UFC is the type of victory that will be given in the fight. The victor can win by knockout, technical knockout, submission, submission, surrender, disqualification or points. Some bouts can be declared a draw. Others are classified as “no-result”. For example, in the case of positive doping.
The knockout occurs when one of the fighters is knocked down by the other without the possibility of getting up or loses consciousness. On the other hand, the technical knockout is given when the referee determines that one of the athletes is not in physical condition to continue with the fight.
Submission is one of the most common ways to win a bout. It consists of practicing a joint leverage or stranglehold on the other fighter, forcing him to surrender. Distinguished from the submission itself, as the latter is the voluntary withdrawal of an opponent who has not been submitted.
When both fighters have a similar level of training, the bout is usually settled on points. It can be a unanimous decision by the three referees or a non-unanimous majority decision. Finally, if any of the athletes break the rules, they automatically lose the fight by disqualification.
Long odds
Long odds betting is not limited to a specific date of the competition, but also to a specific date of the competition is related to the final results of the tournament. This is one of the options that requires the highest degree of knowledge on the part of the bettor. Injuries are very common in this sport, which can suddenly alter the odds and results.
Therefore, the long shot carries a much higher level of risk than the others. Events such as the tibia fracture experienced by Irishman Conor McGregor in his fight against Dustin Poirier on July 10 are unpredictable and can define a bout in an unexpected way.
What are the UFC’s upcoming events?
Official MMA competitions are held on Saturdays. Therefore, the next UFC bouts will take place on July 24, July 31 and August 7. Chris Daukaus vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov, Brendan Allen vs. Punahele Soriano, and Cory Sandhagen vs. Tj Dillashaw on the 24th.
On the 31st, Uriah Hall and Sean Strickland, Danny Chavez with Choi Dooho, and Nicco Montano vs. Wu Yanan will fight. Also facing off will be Alex Perez and Askar Askarov, Kang Kyung Ho vs. Rani Yahya, Jinh Yu Frey with Ashley Yoder, and Mounir Lazzez vs. Niklas Stolze.
For the first date of August the UFC has organized multiple fights. The men’s tournament will feature Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane. In addition, Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz, Vicente Luque vs. Michael Chiesa, Casey Kenney and Song Yadong, Ed Herman and Alonzo Menifield, Manel Kape and Ode’ Osbourne, Vince Morales and Drako Rodriguez, and Johnny Muñoz vs. Jamey Simmons will fight.
In the women’s competition, the main fight will be between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena. The remaining bouts will be between Tecia Torres and Angela Hill, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jessica Penne, and Melissa Gatto versus Victoria Leonardo.
What is the future of online betting?
Mixed Martial Arts is a relatively new sport, which every day is given more visibility in the mass media. It has great acceptance by the younger public, who want to practice it and enjoy watching it. Therefore, it is predicted that the UFC online betting will continue to grow among the general public as its television exposure increases.