MMA Betting Tips (UFC Predictions)

MMA Betting Tips (UFC Predictions)

When you first watch an MMA fight, you might think that betting on this sport is one of the easiest wagers that one can experience. However, MMA is not just a simple fighting sport; it involves strategies and tactics; it is more than just a sport; it is the science of knowing one’s weaknesses and strengths. Today, those who bet on MMA fights spend lots of their time analyzing each player’s move and seeing their past fights, but are all these necessary to have the best result? I believe the answer to this question lies within the old history of this sport and how it reached this point today. This article will discuss when, where and how modern MMA started, then it will give you some beneficial tips to success in wagering on this game.

What is MMA?

Mix Martial Arts, or as some call it, cage fighting, is a full-contact fighting sport that consists of three primary strategies; striking, finishing holds, and control. This famous sport has combined various fighting skills from wrestling, boxing, judo, jujitsu and Muay Thai. At first, critics had mixed reviews about this sport and believed it was a blood sport without specific rules. Over time and by the growing interest of people, some new regulations have been set on the game, and the negative image has been changed. Today these fights are like boxing; all fighters should have a specific weight range and follow some rules. MMA rules are consists of;

• groin attacks are forbidden
• knees to the head on a grounded opponent are not allowed
• strikes to the back of the head or the spine are forbidden
• eye-gouging is forbidden
• No fish hooking.
• fingers in an opponent’s orifices are forbidden
• No biting.
• No hair pulling. (Besides, that’s so second grade.)
• No strikes or grabbing of the throat.
• Manipulation of the fingers or toes are restricted
• intentional grabbing of the ring or cage is not allowed

How and when MMA started?

There is no specific agreement over the birthplace of MMA; in this subject, historians are divided into two groups. The first group of them believe this sport was first played in ancient China where fighters had to face their opponents in the lei Tai, where they had to mix boxing, and Chinese traditional martial arts with wrestling techniques to defeat their opponents. However, the second group of historians relates this sport to the ancient Olympic Games. The written history of ancient Olympic Games talks about Greek Armies martial training called Pankration that ordinary people considered as their combat sport. In this game, only biting and eye-gouging were not allowed, and fighters could use all the techniques to make their opponent withdraw from the match.

In the reign of Theodosius I, the ancient Olympic Games were banned; as a result, this superb traditional game was forgotten entirely until the 20th century. In 1925, a new Brazilian game called vale tudo, which was the same as Pankration, started to gain popularity; this game was introduced by two brothers Carlos and Hélio Gracie.

These two brothers in 1923 established the first Jujitsu school in Brazil; however, when they combined it with traditional Brazilian fighting style, it became so famous that they had to move their classes to a soccer stadium. Contemporary historians believe this new sport was the reappearance of Pankration. In the 1990s, Royce Gracie, the son of Helio, participated in UFC 1 tournament and defeated all his opponents. Helio’s participation in this event is considered as the first arrival of MMA into the USA.

In those years, UFC followed a per view marketing strategy, and Helio’s fighting style increased the number of viewers to 86,000 people, which was a record. Before Helio, UFC was just a fight between two different kinds of sports (for example wrestler has to fight with boxer), but this incident changed the fate of this tournament, and organizers decided to make some changes. The UFC initially indicated that anything could happen in this new fighting match; however, the brutal nature of this fight raised a lot of concerns, and many politicians urged lawmakers to ban this game.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the rules mentioned above were included in the game, and soon, it reduced the negative views toward this sport, and people accepted it as a new sport. TV Critic Howard Rosenberg in one of his weekly reviews for the first time, used the term MMA to introduce this new game, and ever since then, it has been widely used worldwide.

4 crucial tips that you should consider before betting on MMA

Before putting your bets, search about the best betting odds

The internet is full of online sportsbooks that offer different betting options on all sports, including MMA. Depending on which sportsbooks you are betting on, you will see better odds. If you are eager to bet on MMA, it’s better to dedicate your time to this sport; you should look at all the websites and find out which one suits you better.
The first few hours that a sportsbook post their bets, one of the opponents will be significantly undervalued so all gambler will take advantage of it and wager against them. As wagers bet on the stronger fighter, the sportsbooks try to balance the odds and encourage gamblers to bet on both sides. This balancing procedure will give you lower odds compared to first-hour bets. Such situations happen when fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov are on one side of the match. So if you want to see the best odds, you should stay behind your PC and search sportsbooks.

Act strategic with your bets

Consider you have placed your first bet on Khabib, then you see in another country a fight is played between two unknown fighters with great odds you get tempted to bet on one side of the match. Right here, I urge you to Stop! Placing a bet on unknown fighters is an extremely risky thing to do; these are risks that cause you lose lots of money on MMA bets. In some wagering cases, not betting is the best strategy that you can have. As we mentioned above, MMA betting is not a simple process; you have to know the fighting style of both sportsmen, and blind bets are not going to work out for you.

Consider styles

Never trust the winning records of a fighter! Numbers lie in this sport; if you don’t trust my word, just ask Dustin Poirier. As you all know, martial artists worldwide use different techniques based on their next match; if the style they are using targets the most obvious weakness of the opponent, the result of the game would be different. Let me explain this case with a movie; if you are a fan of MMA, you might have seen the movie called Warrior, played by Tom Hardy.

In this movie, Tom Hardy portraits a returned soldier who was a wrestler before the war and now wants to train in a gym where the MMA world champion is training. Tommy volunteers to become the champion’s training opponent; however, against all odds, he knocks the champion out in less than 30 seconds and shocks everyone.
In MMA fights, these incidents are not rare; we can find many non-fiction examples that underdog won the match and gamblers lost lots of money. We recommend all wagers before putting their bets on famous fighters; first, they analyze the opponent closely and then fix their final bets.

Don’t Bet On personal favorites

In MMA, we have seen many cases in which newly introduced fighters rise to the top of their careers by defeating long-reigned champions. As you might know, we are speaking about Holly Holm, who became famous by winning over Ronda Rousey. Being recognized and even undisputed doesn’t guarantee your success in an MMA fight. Fighters should devote their entire life to this game; if you step aside for only one game, you might lose your cutting edge and lose to an unknown opponent. Please take a look at Conor McGregor, once he was the greatest fighter in MMA, but now he is considered an underdog in fights. Don’t let your bias blind your strategies, and you should analyze all the fighters.

Summary

Don’t worry, Betting on Sportsbooks is a marathon and not a sprint, and in this marathon, the MMA, is in the first mile. We will help you learn to analyze the fights and players. In the process of teaching MMA wagering, we will introduce you to the best possible fighting techniques and then discuss their pros and cons. If you ask me to teach one thing out of this article, I would say not to trust your previous knowledge and update it before each game.