5 MMA Betting Strategies You Should Consider Using

MMA has reached exponential growth in the past decade, meaning MMA betting has grown more. Because of the popularity it has seen in recent years, the betting market of MMA has a lot of activity, which means there are a lot of opportunities you can take to get home with a huge payout. However, if you don’t want to miss out on this, there are a lot of MMA betting strategies you can learn to win more bets. Here are some of them.

Look at the Age

Age is one of the most important factors when it comes to predicting the outcome of a fight. As bad as it sounds, the pay that MMA gives pales compared to the paychecks that other sports give their players. And for this reason, a lot of fighters continue fighting even though they are well aware that they have passed their prime.

While it does not look suitable for participants, it does give bettors a good insight into how the fight will go. Take a look at Chuck Liddell, for example. For years, he could go for fight after fight, accumulating damage over time. It worked remarkably over the years and has given outstanding performances, but his age and damage over time eventually caught up to him, taking up knock-out losses afterward.

Now, why is this important? This is because some matchups tend to go this way, with one of the fighters significantly older than the other. In this scenario, you can go for the under when betting for the number of rounds or even predict the final decision. 

Of course, it’s not always this way since most fights go with both fighters near the same age or the older fighter might still be on a winning streak or has a significant experience advantage against the younger opponent. But if this situation comes up, you can receive a massive payout if you take advantage of it.

Fading the Favorites

Fight fans love unbeaten prospects. Sometimes, there will be a fighter with colossal potential, and people will say he is the next GSP, Anderson Silva, etc. The truth is that great fighters are one in a million. Not to mention that even the greatest fighters of today will take a loss or two sometimes. This is especially true if a potentially great fighter starts fighting at a higher level.

In this scenario, it’s often an excellent decision to fade the favorites. Since the fighter is famous, bookies tend to inflate the fighter’s odds, giving you a chance to bet against the favorite with a potentially huge payout. So yes, there’s a big chance that the fighter will win, but your payout will be huge if he loses.

Look at the Pace and Stance

You need to consider two of the most vital aspects of the fighters: the pace, and stance. Why? This is because these aspects dictate how the match will go and end. Do you ever wonder why they show these aspects on the fight cards they show on TV? This is why.

Regarding stances, south-paws are often regarded as the ones having the advantage. This is because orthodox fighters mostly only spar and fight people with the same stance. On the other hand, south-paws mostly face opponents with the opposite stance, giving them an advantage in terms of experience.

Another thing to look into is pace. A higher-paced fighter will often utilize their cardiovascular advantage by pressuring their opponents often, hoping they will tire out for a finish or have a point advantage by the end of the fight.

Keep Your Parlays Small

As tempting to play parlays in multiple fight cards, it doesn’t often go well the more fights you capitalize. It doesn’t mention that winning two-fight parlays isn’t that profitable since it’s uncommon unless you’re lucky. So, keeping your parlays small is a good idea if you’re betting on MMA.

Avoid Betting Heavy Favorites

Heavy favorites are pretty standard in sports, especially football. People will often dish out tens of thousands of dollars to teams that are predicted to have at least a 20 points advantage at the end of the game. Big-named teams in football often win more. However, in MMA betting, many styles, techniques, etc., can turn the tide of the fight in a split second. We’re saying that upsets are regular in MMA, so betting on heavy favorites is often quite risky.

Final Words

Handicapping in MMA is overwhelming and complicated because of the different fighters’ countless styles and techniques and the wildly unpredictable nature of the sport. One moment, the favorite dominates the other fighter, and the next, the favorite is sprawled out on the floor because of a surprise knockdown punch connected fabulously by the underdog. 

That said, handicapping can be tricky at the time, but by following our strategies above, you can win more bets and go home a few hundred bucks richer.