UFC Betting in the US – How To Bet Guide

The high profile UFC fights are very popular at the sportsbooks.  The fact that there is a big build up with plenty of hype for the big fights and very strong opinions on the fight outcome lends itself well to betting.  Not to mention the fights are a lot more fun to watch with some action.

On this page I’ve recommended 3 popular betting sites for Americans, looked at the various bets you can make on a UFC fight and provided a simple 3 step guide you can follow to get your UFC bets placed from anywhere in the USA.

I’ve used odds from the Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland title fight for all of the betting examples below.

Best UFC Betting Sites for Americans

Sportsbook
Features
Bonus
Rating
Bet Now
1
  • Built for American bettors
  • Wide variety of competitive betting lines
  • Easy to navigate betting platform
50% up to $250
2
  • Accepts players worldwide
  • Competitive betting lines
  • Fast & easy deposits and withdrawals (including Bitcoin)
50% up to $1000
3
  • Accepts players worldwide
  • Competitive betting lines
  • Old style website that is easy to navigate
50% up to $1000

These three betting sites take bets on every UFC fight and often offer a variety of prop bets closer to the fights.  Each site is popular among American bettors with each of these three sportsbooks primarily focused on the United States betting market.  This results in bet offerings, deposit/withdrawal options, promotions and customer service catered towards US residents.

Bovada is our top rated betting site, but they do restrict a few States.  Bovada accepts players from the following States:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

If you live in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York or Nevada, then I suggest joining BetOnline.ag, which doesn’t restrict any states.

Different UFC Bets

There are a variety of different bets you can make on a UFC fight.  The most obvious is simply wagering on who wins the fight, but you can also bet on total rounds, method of victory, round betting and more.  Below I will look at some of these betting options with example screenshots from Bovada.lv.

Fight Winner

The simplest and most popular UFC bet is wagering on which fighter will have his hand raised after the fight.  It doesn’t matter if the fighter wins by decision, KO, submission or DQ.  So long as your fighter wins then your bet wins.

Here’s an example using the odds from the Israel Adesanya vs Sean Strickland title fight from UFC 293:

In this example, Israel Adesanya is a the favorite. Vera has odds of -700, which means you must bet $700 on Adesanya to win $100. Strickland has +460 odds, which means a $100 bet on Strickland would win $460 if he pulled off the upset.  Check out our betting odds explained page if you don’t know how to read the odds.

Total Rounds

The second most popular UFC bet is the over/under on how long the fight lasts.

Bovada.lv has odds available for every round total in this 5 round fight.

Let’s use the 4.5 round total as an example.  The over bet would payout if the fight lasts past the 2 minute and 30 second mark of round 4.  The under bet would win if either Adesanya or Strickland finished the fight in the first four rounds or within the first half of the fifth.

Method of Victory

If you think you know how the fight will end then the method of victory prop is for you.

Here is an example of the method of victory odds from the Adesanya vs Strickland fight:

  • Israel Adesanya by TKO/KO/DQ +110
  • Israel Adesanya by Submission +1600
  • Israel Adesanya by Decision +140
  • Sean Strickland by TKO/KO/DQ +900
  • Sean Strickland by Submission +1800
  • Sean Strickland by Decision +1100
  • Draw +8000

A fight can end via a TKO/KO, submission, decision or DQ win for either fighter.  The DQ is often combined with the TKO and KO in the method of victory props.  The seventh possibility is a draw.

If you think Adesanya is going to dictate the pace for five rounds, but not land a fight finishing blow, then you should bet Adesanya by decision at odds of +140.  The odds provide a much better payout than wagering on Adesanya to win straight up.

Round Betting

If you think you know exactly when the fight will finish then you can wager on which fighter will win and in which round. Here is an example from the Adesanya vs Strickland fight.

If you bet on Adesanya to catch Strickland and win in round one you would win $550 for every $100 wagered.

How To Bet On The UFC Online – 3 Steps

Follow these three steps to get your UFC bets placed from anywhere in the United States.

Step 1. Open a Sports Betting Account

Choose one of the betting sites outlined above and open an account.

I’m going to use Bovada for this guide because they are our top rated betting site for American players.

Click here to visit Bovada.lv.  Fill out the short form on the homepage to open your account.

Step 2. Deposit Funds

Next you will have to fund your account with the money you want to bet.

Go to the ‘Cashier’ under your accounts drop down menu. Choose one of the deposit methods (Visa, MasterCard, bitcoin, etc) and follow the instructions to make your deposit.

Step 3. Place Your UFC Wagers

At Bovada you will find the UFC betting odds by opening up the ‘All Sports’ drop down menu in the secondary navigation bar and selecting ‘UFC/MMA’.

Find and select the bet you want to make, enter your risk amount on the Bet Slip, and click ‘Place Bets’ to lock in your wager.

That’s it.  You should have some UFC betting action!  Here’s a screenshot with some of the clicks at Bovada:

Ready to get started?  Click here to visit Bovada.lv.

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