The Best MMA Betting Sites for 2024

Fight Winner (Moneyline)

Arguably the best and simplest way to bet on mixed martial arts is just to pick the winner.

The fight winner market is the most prominent option for punters for a good reason. Most members want to quickly log-in to their favourite MMA betting site and place a bet on whom they think will win the fight. If you’re not concerned with how they win (KO/TKO, submission, or decision), then this is the market for you.

Here’s an example of how the fight winner market looks on our top-rated MMA betting sites:

Khabib Nurmagomedov v Conor McGregor

• Khabib Nurmagomedov: 1.71
• Conor McGregor: 2.50

The fight winner market offers up odds for each fighter to win the contest, regardless of the method of victory. In this example, Conor McGregor is considered the underdog and Khabib Nurmagomedov will enter the fight as the favourite.

One of the best aspects of this market is that unlike betting on football, in the case of a draw or no contest, bets are refunded and you won’t lose a thing!

You can find the fight winner market for every UFC fight (regardless of whether it’s on the UFC Fight Pass Prelims or the main card of a pay-per-view), the main card of every Bellator card, and for significant fights in other high-level promotions.

Remember, all that matters is that your fighter wins the fight!

Total Rounds (Over/Under)

The total rounds market is another excellent way to bet on UFC, Bellator, and other MMA promotions around the world.

Unlike the outright winner market, you won’t need to back a fighter this time. Instead, you’ll have the option to predict whether a fight will last longer or shorter than a time specified by the bookmaker.

Here’s an example of the total rounds market:

Khabib Nurmagomedov v Conor McGregor

• Over 2.5 Rounds: 2.20
• Under 2.5 Rounds: 1.83

The bookmaker has set the total rounds line at 2.5 rounds and will now take bets on the fight lasting over or under the midway point of the third round. If a fight ends before 2:30 of round three, that will be marked as under, whereas anything after that time will be classified as over.

This market allows punters to forecast the pace and stoppage potential of every fight. If two heavy-hitting heavyweight fighters are scheduled to fight, you will likely be betting on this fight not lasting very long. Alternatively, most female fights (especially in the strawweight division) make it the distance.

Just like the outright winner market, the total rounds market is a great way to bet on mixed martial arts.

Method of Victory

This is where MMA betting starts to get very exciting.

The method of victory betting option allows a punter to predict the finishing series of a fight. Will one fighter submit the other? Or will that fighter that always wins by decision do it again?

Punters have the option of predicting these various paths to victory and will enjoy increased odds as a result.

Here’s an example of the method of victory betting market:

• Khabib Nurmagomedov to win by KO/TKO: 4.85
• Khabib Nurmagomedov to win by submission: 4.00
• Khabib Nurmagomedov to win by decision: 5.23
• Conor McGregor to win by KO/TKO: 2.775
• Conor McGregor to win by submission: 27.50
• Conor McGregor to win by decision: 15.75

As you can see, the bookmakers will release method of victory odds for both fighters and all potential outcomes. The more likely it is for a result to occur, the lower the odds will be. Interestingly, although Conor McGregor is the betting underdog in the outright winner market, the odds for McGregor to win by KO/TKO are the lowest of all available options in the method of victory market.

The odds for Khabib Nurmagomedov in the outright winner market were much lower than those found here in the method of victory market. A successful £100 bet on Khabib Nurmagomedov in the outright winner market would return just £71.43, whereas a correct prediction in the method of victory market would yield a profit of over £300.

For a punter with an excellent understanding of both fighters and mixed martial arts, this can be one of the most lucrative betting options.

Moreover, if you don’t consider yourself an expert just yet, you’ll probably need to review what constitutes a KO/TKO or submission finish:

• A KO/TKO occurs when a referee stops the contest (while standing or on the canvas), a doctor stops the fight, a corner stops the fight, or when a fighter retires as a result of an injury.
• A submission is the result of a referee stopping the fight due to tap out or technical submission. A fighter can also submit to strikes or submit verbally.

The method of victory market is usually available for every UFC fight and is released a couple of days before every event. Significant fights in other promotions will also have method of victory odds at our top-rated MMA betting sites.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the leading mixed martial arts promotion in the world today. The UFC has approximately 2-3 regular events and one big-time pay-per-view (PPV) event monthly. The PPV events are stacked with the best and most recognisable names in the sport, such as Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, but even their free-to-air events feature highlight-reel fighters and present lots of betting opportunities.

Read our UFC betting guide to learn more.

Bellator

Bellator is another excellent option for those who want to bet on mixed martial arts. They have been adding talent to their roster for many years now and have become almost impossible to ignore. Notable fighters include UFC veterans such as Lyoto Machida, Ryan Bader and Yoel Romero. In 2018, Bellator organised the first of many grand prix tournaments. These tournament-style events have attracted the attention of many fans of mixed martial arts fans.

Read our Bellator betting guide to learn more.

Cage Warriors

Established in 2001, Cage Warriors is Europe’s leading and longest-running mixed martial arts promotion. It has cemented its reputation as a breeding ground for elite-level mixed martial artists and UFC talent. Conor McGregor became a two-weight Cage Warriors champions (featherweight and lightweight) at CW51, then achieved the unthinkable by becoming the first ‘Champ Champ’ in UFC history by holding the featherweight and lightweight titles at the same time.

ONE Championship

Established in 2001, Cage Warriors is Europe’s leading and longest-running mixed martial arts promotion. It has cemented its reputation as a breeding ground for elite-level mixed martial artists and UFC talent. Conor McGregor became a two-weight Cage Warriors champions (featherweight and lightweight) at CW51, then achieved the unthinkable by becoming the first ‘Champ Champ’ in UFC history by holding the featherweight and lightweight titles at the same time.

Find Value, Not Winners

The first mistake we notice with losing mixed martial arts punters is that they only bet on the fighter they think is going to win the fight.

If you only bet on who you think will win, you’re going to lose more than you win. As we explained earlier, mixed martial arts can be very unpredictable and that means some major underdogs can score victories and help punters make huge profits.

The objective of every bet should be to select the high-value selection, and not just pick the winner. Now that you have an understanding of implied probability, you should now be aware that value can be identified by finding scenarios in which your assessment of the fight varies to that of a bookmaker.

For example, let’s review the potential UFC Featherweight Championship bout between Max Holloway and Edson Barboza:

• Max Holloway to win: 1.67
• Edson Barboza to win: 2.50

The odds for this fight indicate that Max Holloway has a 60% implied probability to win and that Edson Barboza has a 40% implied probability to win.

If you believe that Max Holloway is going to win, should you go ahead and bet on him right away? No.

What is your real assessment of the fight? How confident are you that Max Holloway will win? Do you believe Holloway has a 70% chance of winning or a 55% chance of winning? That question alone will determine which fighter you should bet on.

If you have great confidence in Max Holloway (70% chance of victory), then you should bet on Holloway to win because your calculated probability is higher than the implied probability reflected in the odds.

Alternatively, if you are not extremely confident about Holloway winning and consider it to be a close bout (55% chance of victory), the correct bet would be to back Edson Barboza because you find him to have a higher chance of winning (45%) than the implied probability of 40%.

This is just one example of how backing against the fighter you think is going to win can still be a correct betting decision.

Research, Research, Research!

If you wish to gain an edge over the bookmakers, you need to conduct comprehensive research.

Our MMA experts conduct their research before betting on mixed martial arts fights by investigating both fighters on Tapology, watching fights against opponents with a similar style, and recent fights in general.

Tapology is the ultimate online database for fight fans. A favourite by many experts and analysts in the industry, Tapology allows a user to review information about the career of almost every professional fighter in the world.

For example, if we want to research how a karate-style fighter handles fighting against a wrestler, we can identify this in their record and then search for this fight online.

This is the best way to determine if a striker has exceptional takedown defence (like Jose Aldo) or they are vulnerable to takedown attempts (such as Francis Ngannou).

Watching recent fights is one of the best ways to gain an understanding of the tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses of every fighter.

Set Your Odds

Arguably the best way to identify value betting opportunities is to set your odds before you view the markets on an MMA betting site.

If you view the odds for a particular outcome before you research and formulate your own opinion and prediction, these odds can sometimes influence your thinking and create an unwelcomed bias throughout the research process.

We highly recommend the process of writing down your odds for outcomes before logging in and checking the odds.