That fighters like Conor McGregor are a household name these days is a proof enough that MMA has rapidly emerged as one of the fastest growing sports throughout the world. The increasing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts has led to a corresponding spike in the popularity of MMA betting too. More and more people are turning to websites like SBAT to gain an edge while placing MMA bets. Let’s take you through some of the basics of MMA betting to help you place well-informed punts.

Rules of the sport

Before placing any bets on MMA matches, it’s important that you understand the rules of the game. Every MMA bout features 5-minute rounds. While majority of these matches last 3 rounds, the title fights or the special fights last 5. The outcomes of MMA fights are same as that of boxing, with just one exception – submission.

Although fighters can win through technical knockouts, disqualification or plain knockouts, the fight can also be taken to the ground. It’s here that the fighters can employ various methods to make their opponents submit. An opponent may ‘tap out’ if he/she feels there’s no way out for him/her in the present situation.

More room (space) is created for integrating the kicking and wrestling aspects into the game, in the form of a ‘cage’ or an ‘octagon’, rather than a ring. As in case of boxing, pro level MMA is split into the women’s and men’s divisions, involving different weight classes. Such divisions may differ based on the organisations. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is easily the biggest MMA organisation out there; in fact, UFC is considered almost synonymous with MMA these days.

Available betting markets

Your next step should be learning about the various MMA betting markets. Bellator and UFC normally hold their biggest fights once in every few weeks, while the smaller fights happen more frequently. There are primarily two main MMA markets available out there:

Money line

Just like the money line bets in tennis or football, MMA money lines are also about simple bets involving prediction of the match winner.

Total rounds

This market is about betting on whether a particular fight will last under or over a certain number of rounds. That number is set by the bookmaker, for instance, 2.5 rounds. As there are only 3 or 5 rounds in MMA fights, it usually comes down to whether you expect a fight to go the distance or not.

Fighting styles

To be able to bet effectively on the total rounds and money line markets, it’s important for MMA bettors to learn about various fighting styles as well. In a sense, MMA is a combination of many different fighting styles, including, but not limited to:

–      Karate

–      Boxing

–      Tae kwon do

–      Wrestling

–      Kickboxing

–      Judo

–      Capoeira

–      Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

–      Muay Thai

Before placing any real money bets on MMA fights, you must gain good understanding of the weaknesses and strengths of these different styles. For instance, a fighter who likes taking his opponents to the ground, may prefer taking the fight to the last round. On the other hand, a fighter good at striking may go all out for a knockout, rather than taking the fight till the last round, and risk losing points.