With the popularity of UFC surging through the past decade, a lot more avenues of betting are now available for the public. And not only that but with a lot more big fights and UFC events going on every year, there is a lot more opportunity to bet and win big money in UFC betting. As more people bet, bookmakers are improving their services and are offering more ways to bet for UFC bettors.
If you’re looking to join in on the fun, you might want to do your research first, as UFC betting can be pretty complicated, especially for novices. This article would be an excellent way to start your research as in this article, we will discuss some tips that will be useful for both beginners and veterans alike. Here are some of them.
Bet the Chalk
It’s not the most exciting of strategies. But, it’s the most common as this tip tells you to bet on the favorite. While this tip won’t make you a lot of money in the long run, it’s still worth doing.
Why? It turns out that betting on the favorite on the board will yield a 66% chance of winning. You see, bookmakers tend to be right on the spot as they tend to be right when picking favorites. The 66% tells you that for every 12-fight UFC card, 8 of them will be won by the favorites. Remember that it doesn’t tell you to bet on the favorite blindly.
Look for the Striker
If you’re having trouble picking which fighter to choose, you can opt for the one who’s a striker. This makes sense because the fight would almost always start by striking the feet. However, how do you determine which of the fighters is a better striker? You can see how they strike and how often they hit, but if you’re still unsure, you can go to each fighter’s striking stats, which you can see on UFCStats.com.
You can click on the matchup on this site, and then you will see four striking categories: strikes landed per minute, striking accuracy, defense percentage, and strikes absorbed per minute. So there are two offensive stats and two defensive stats. So all you have to do is to see which fighter wins the most categories, and you’ll be able to determine which of them is the better striker.
Bet Against Replacements
UFC fights are commonly known to be changed last minute. The most common scenario is that a fighter suddenly bows out of a fight and is replaced by a new one. This was especially true during the pandemic because countless fighters were being replaced because they had tested positive for COVID or had been restricted from going out because of travel or visa issues.
In this scenario, it’s always wise to bet against the replacement. Why? This is because when a fighter gets replaced at the last minute, the new one will have little time to train and study his opponent. Replacement fighters only average 40% wins since the start of 2020, which is particularly low. Unless you think the replacement is head and shoulders better than the other fighter, then bet against the replacement instead.
Go for the Youth
In matchups, the younger fighter will almost always have the advantage over the older fighter. Of course, this is unless the older fighter is at his peak, but if he has been in decline recently, it’s always a good idea to bet on the younger fighter. Younger fighters have a 60% chance of winning; you can see this stat everywhere. Sports are for the young blood, which is no different in UFC.
Find Out Which is the Most Likely Method of Victory
Essentially, you will be betting on how the fight will end in your chosen sportsbook. Fights will typically end via unanimous or split decisions or via knockout or submission. In rarer cases, a match can end in a draw or a disqualification. If you want a specific one, you can bet on how the other fighter will lose via knockout, submission, etc.
For example, you can ask questions like, has this fighter never been knocked but has submitted multiple times? If so, this could be a good time to bet that the fighter will be submitted again, especially when he is a matchup with a good grappler.
Let’s have a scenario. Sean Brady is an excellent jiu-jitsu fighter. But, unfortunately, in the fight against Jake Matthews, in which Brady was the favorite, he got submitted by Brady. If you look into the history of Jake Matthews, he was submitted twice before the fight, which ultimately happened again in his fight with Sean Brady.
Final Words
These are excellent tips that you can use in your next UFC betting session. However, if you notice, they include a lot of research, so study before you go in. Also, note that these tips don’t guarantee you a win as UFC betting, as the term implies, still involves luck as sometimes, things don’t always go according to plan, just like how most UFC fights go.
