Exploring the fastest-growing fight markets and the bets fans love most

Combat sports and fighting have grown in popularity in the last five years. Mixed Martial Arts or MMA has seen a particular boom with more than 300 million fans around the world. Importantly, the sport has strong fanbases around the world including in the UK, the USA, Brazil, Singapore and China. Such a diverse market makes it increasingly easy for the sport to grow and gather new fans. Technology has also helped to connect fans to not only the sport, but also being able to place bets on it.

There are currently two major MMA media companies in the market, both offering various ways to interact with the sport. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and the ONE Championship are each worth more than 1 billion dollars. On top of that, there are smaller promotions and leagues to watch as well, including Bellator and Cage Warriors, all of which are slowly competing with the monopoly that is UFC. Importantly, all of these different MMA options are popular with bettors and can be found on Malawi’s top betting site as well as other betting sites around the world. And it’s the access to betting options that is fuelling the growth of this sport.

So, how can fans bet on MMA and what are the types of bets that are most preferred? Let’s take a look.

Betting on MMA

First, players need to determine which MMA league or competition they want to watch. As mentioned, there are a few different options, with some more popular than others depending on where the player is in the world. Once players have determined which league or championship they want to bet on, the next step is finding a betting site to do so. These days, MMA is so popular that there’s typically a category for it listing all the upcoming fights and events on the cards.

Then it’s time to do some research. Each fight can have wildly different outcomes, just like any sport. The first thing to do is look at the two fighters, current form, head-to-head and fighting styles. With MMA, each fighter can have a speciality with some being strikers and others being grapplers. Each individual style can have pros and cons when fighting an opponent, so it’s important to check out the success rate for each fighting style against each other. Watching old fights between fighters can be a good way to determine how the fighter handles pressure, their level of stamina, agility, flexibility when facing a new opponent and tactical match-ups. It’s also a good idea to take into consideration physical fighter attributes such as weight, height and arm length advantages. These can play a massive role later on within a bout.

Popular MMA bets

Within MMA, there are a number of bets that remain very popular. Some of these are similar throughout all different sports. For example, match bets are still one of the most popular options. This simply means predicting who will win in a fight. It’s a popular bet for a reason, as it doesn’t have any specific stipulations or require too much in-depth knowledge of the fight.

A more interesting, and also common, MMA bet is the method of victory. This type of prop bet encompasses whether the win will be my knockout, submission or decision, where it all comes down to the judge’s scores. Some players also like to take part in round betting. This is where the player bets on which round the fight will end, but they do not need to state which fighter will win. Obviously, the more specific and detailed the bet is, the better the odds will be and the higher the subsequent payout. However, the chance of this actually coming to pass decreases. Considering this, though, there are still hugely popular futures bets such as who will be the world champion in a specific weight class, something that can change very quickly depending on the fighter and the day.

As with all sports, MMA betting requires a lot of knowledge and careful judgment when it comes to placing a bet. Research should be undertaken for some of the more specific prop bets if players are looking to be successful.