UFC Betting

Since its creation in 1993, the UFC events have become the leading promotions within the sport, where you'll find some of the biggest names featured on the cards. Over the years, the UFC has been responsible for creating legends such as Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Khabib Nurmagomedov and many more.

In recent years, the sport is not the only focus for fans, with many spectators following personalities such as Conor McGregor for the action they bring not only inside the octagon but also in the build-up to the event.

Within UFC, there are 12 weight divisions for fighters to compete in. The men's UFC includes; Strawweight, Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight, Super Lightweight, Welterweight and Super Welterweight. There are only four classes for the women's UFC, which break down into; Strawweight, Flyweight, Bantamweight and Featherweight.

For each weight division that exists, there is a title to be won. However, fighters must earn that chance at a title by progressing up the rankings in their weight division. For example, a fighter could beat an opponent ranked higher than them in the heavyweight division, meaning they would likely climb the leaderboard.

Among the various weight divisions, you'll find a great range of fighters possessing different styles, making the competition so anticipated. Those who excel in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can find themselves in a title defence against an opponent whose strength lies in boxing.

When it comes to UFC betting markets, you can find odds for both the women's and men's events, including major events highly anticipated by fans of the sport.

Best Bets for each UFC weight division

When betting on the UFC, there is one major element that needs to be considered when placing your bets. The contrast in finishes is gigantic and if you're looking to place a bet, you should be aware of the most likely finishes per division before placing your bet.

Heavyweight: Heavyweight bouts are notorious for knockout or submission finishes, out of all the UFC weightclasses. Betting on Heavyweight finishes is the most common, historically, approximately 50% of all UFC bouts finish with a knockout, and only approximately 27% finish with a decision - making betting on a decision in heavyweight UFC betting a bad option.

Light Heavyweight: The heavier the class, the more likely knockouts are, at least that's a common theme in the UFC. This isn't guaranteed but similar to the heavyweight division, knockouts are typically over 40% of the finishes over the course of a year. Only featherweight has less submission finishes over the course of a year with just over 18% on average. Decision or knockout bets seem the best way to proceed here.

Middleweight Predicting the finish in these fights are typically some of the hardest as historically KO's, submissions and decisions all record good numbers. Decisions make up nearly 39% of finishes, KO is slightly lower and submissions sit at 22.6% but they sit almost identical to Heavyweight and Lightweight for decision victories.

Lightweight: Historically, there have been more lightweight bouts than any other division in the UFC and almost 50% of them have ended in a decision finish. Both KOs and submissions sit below 30%. You'll often find these betting odds focus on decision victories.

Featherweight: In over 700 Featherweight bouts, over 50% have ended in decision. This division has a higher percentage than any other in the UFC and the lowest percentage in regards to submissions.

Bantamweight: Once again over 50% of Bantamweight bouts have ended in decision. There are more no contests than any other division than Bantamweight.

Flyweight: 54.2% of finishes were decisions. However, under 25% for knockouts and submissions.

Women's Divisions: Over 50% of finishes in all divisions were decisions. The lower the weight the smaller number of knockouts and the higher number of decisions.

UFC Decision Betting

When it comes to placing a bet on a type of decision in the UFC, Lightweight and Welterweight have the most number of decisions and the vast majority were unanimous. The heavyweight has the highest number of decisions per quota with 7 draws in 215 fights. The lowest number of draws came in the Middleweight division with just three draws in 369 fights.

UFC Betting Odds

Ahead of UFC fight night, you can discover outright and live betting odds via our online sportsbook. Whether it's one of the major events that you're searching for or one of the upcoming contenders that is featuring on the card, you can browse the range of betting odds that are available to you.

UFC Outright Betting Markets

Outright betting for the UFC allows you to place bets ahead of the events. Some of the most common outright options include:

Outright winner - Predict who you believe will win the fight. This can be more specific with options to predict how the fight will be won. For example, you could bet on Fighter A to win via knockout. These are often referred to as Prop bets.

Futures - Bet on the outcome of fighters achieving titles in the future. This could include an individual winning the Welterweight title next year as an example.

Round betting - Place a wager on how many rounds will be completed during a fight.

UFC Live Betting Markets

With UFC, betting is not limited to the period before an event. You can also bet in-play whilst following the fight.

Wins - Spectating a fight can give you an idea of who will likely come out on top. During the fight, you can still place a bet on the fighter you believe will win; however, live odds are updated to reflect this likelihood.

Rounds - During the fight, correctly predict which round you think the fight will finish on. Viewing the results of previous fights can tell you a lot about how individuals approach fights. Winning a fight into early rounds via knockout could point towards their aggressive style and skill, which could influence the number of rounds they go in upcoming fights.

UFC Betting FAQs

Where can I bet on UFC?

With BetUK, you can find all the latest UFC odds via our online sportsbook, allowing you to bet outright and live.

How to find the best UFC odds?

There is no guaranteed strategy for you to win with UFC betting. However, there are general UFC betting tips that you can apply to help find the best odds on the markets.

Firstly, good awareness and understanding of the sport can allow you to make better sense of the betting options that are offered. Without knowing, you won't be able to determine what the best odds are for you.

The above applies to each of the fighters and fighting styles individuals adopt. Some fighters will match their opponent's style better, potentially making them a more likely victor.

What are the different fighting styles used in UFC?

UFC is a promotion of the sport, Mixed Martial Arts. Within this sport, individuals use a combination of styles to perfect their approach. This can include; Judo, Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling.

Each fighter is known to have a strength in one of the arts that they have perfected the most. When betting, you can consider the styles of each individual to see who might benefit the most from their area of expertise. For example, someone who is strong with submissions and groundwork might exploit the weakness of their opponent.

If you're familiar with MMA betting, you'll likely have a better indication of what betting markets are best for which weight class.

How does a UFC fight work?

For a fighter to be successful in UFC fights, there are various approaches they can take to win. The first is via knockout, which can be achieved by a fighter physically knocking out the opponent or forcing them into submission.

Alternatively, a fight can be won via decision. This only comes into play if a fight goes the distance and all five rounds have been completed. Here, the three judges will decide on the fighter that performed the best across each of the rounds based on points that the judges award.

Prop betting enables you to predict how a fight will end based on the abovementioned methods.