Top UFC Betting Sites

How We Review the Best UFC Betting Sites

Wondering how we find the best UFC betting sites? Here’s a roundup of some of the things we watch out for when we review the best sites to place bets on the UFC.

Licensing

To operate legally in the UK, sports betting sites must hold a licence from the Gambling Commission. A current licence tells us that a site is legit and offers a safe and fair platform for online UFC betting. If a site is unlicensed, or only licensed for other jurisdictions, we don’t recommend it to UK bettors. That’s good old common sense. 

Bonuses and Promotions

The best sites offer plenty of bonuses to help bettors get even more value from their online UFC bets. We check out the promos page to make sure that there’s a decent welcome bonus up for grabs, and lots to keep existing customers happy too. We expect to see deals such as free bet clubs, cashback, and acca insurance from the best UFC betting sites.  

Competitive Odds

Getting the best odds for your UFC bets is a must, and top bookies ensure you can get a great deal by offering odds boosts and enhanced prices. These are sometimes on specific markets, though some sites, such as Ladbrokes, offer daily odds boost tokens to use on any sport you like, including UFC. Our reviews let you know where to find the best UFC odds for your bets. 

Variety of UFC Markets

Top bookies offer a host of UFC betting markets over and above the fight result. We hit up the MMA betting page to ensure that betting options like method of victory, round betting, method and round combos, and over/under markets on the total rounds are on the menu. We also like to see betting options on questions like will the fight go the distance and how will the fight end?

Other Sports Options

Betting on UFC fighters like Leon Edwards and Alexander Volkanovski is fantastic fun but MMA is not the only sport out there. The best sites offer betting markets on as many as 50 different sports, and while we recommend sticking to betting on sports that you’re familiar with, there’s certainly plenty of fun to be had from exploring opportunities to place bets on different sports. 

Payment Methods

The top betting sites tend to offer customers a variety of options for depositing and withdrawing funds. These will almost certainly include debit cards, Trustly, and perhaps an e-wallet or two, though we also like to see pay by mobile services and Paysafecard make the list. Top sites impress when it comes to withdrawals too, with low minimums and speedy payouts. 

Customer Support

A detailed FAQs page and an online help centre is often the mark of a good bookie, but sometimes you’ll need to speak to the customer service team about something specific. We’ll let you know how to go about this for individual operators in our detailed betting site reviews, but we can tell you that the top bookies offer a helpful mix of live chat, email support, and social media engagement.

Site Design & UX

Top betting sites put a great deal of effort into making sure their sites and apps look good and are easy to use, and conducting our betting site reviews gives us the perfect opportunity to see if they’ve nailed it. Our reviews cover what you can expect from a site’s design, as well as a look at its navigation and how easy it is to get to where you want to go. It’s top marks for the bookies who offer fast-loading sites with eye-catching designs and intuitive menu options. 

UFC Betting Basics

MMA is a full-contact combat sport that incorporates a range of martial arts such as boxing, Muay Thai, judo, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Matches are 1v1 and championship fights last five rounds, each five minutes long, while most other regular professional fights last three rounds. There are twelve weight divisions in total in UFC – eight men’s and four women’s.

UFC’s popularity has risen dramatically over the years, thanks in part to high profile names like ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor and Ronda ‘Rowdy’ Rousey. The promotion hosts showdowns between the world’s top-ranked fighters, with the majority of contests taking place in the US. The main UFC events are the PPV (pay-per-view) fight cards, which feature most championship fights. These are all numbered, for example – UFC 287 is April 2023, UFC 288 is May 2023 and so on. Other big occasions include UFC Fight Night and UFC on Fox.

There are over 40 events every year, with as many as five fight nights in some months. Much like boxing, every UFC event has its main attraction, but there are also a couple of preliminary cards. This amounts to over ten fights in total, so there are plenty of exciting betting opportunities each time a UFC event comes around — perfect if you like to make accumulator bets!

In-Play Betting

The best sites for betting on MMA don’t stop taking bets when a fight gets underway. Quite the opposite. Top bookies let you place bets on the action right up until pretty much the end of the fight. It’s exciting stuff too. UFC betting odds for the various markets change as the fighters put each other through their paces, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on the prices to ensure you get the best possible value for your UFC bets. You can also watch out for pop-up bets like whether a fighter will get knocked out or win by submission by the end of the round. 

Cash Out

Complementing live UFC betting at top bookies comes a feature called cash out. It’s a perk that allows you to settle a bet early and before a fight has ended. You can put it to good use in two main ways — either to secure a profit on a bet that’s going your way or to cut your losses on a bet that’s not. Grappling over whether to cut and run or to wait and see what happens? The partial cash out option available at some bookmakers allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds, though it’s worth noting that you can’t usually cash out free bets.  

UFC Betting Tips

Checking out the UFC betting odds and backing the favourite might seem like a safe bet, but there have been enough upsets in the world-famous Octagon to make it anything but a banker. For example, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko was widely expected to retain her title and make light work of Alexa Grasso at UFC 285, only for Grasso to claim victory via a shocking submission. MMA betting sites were offering 11/2 on the underdog, which gave punters who predicted the end of Shevchenko’s nine-fight winning streak a healthy profit. 

While there’s no such thing as a safe bet in UFC, most UFC betting tipsters would agree that a little research can go a long way. Whether you’re betting on a fist fight or a mat-based affair, here’s the knowledge that might give you the edge when you place UFC bets online. 

• World Rankings – The world rankings are always a decent starting point when trying to pick out a winner in UFC betting, though it’s worth noting that UFC world rankings are voted on by media members, rather than being determined by fighters’ past achievements and successes.
• Stats and Recent Form – UFC stats such as striking accuracy and takedown defence give you a high-level view of a fighter’s performance and can be found on the UFC website. Don’t ignore recent form, though, as this can be a better indicator of a fighter’s current chances against an opponent. 
• Fighting Styles – UFC fighters often specialise in different striking and grappling techniques, which makes for some intriguing matchups. For example, a fighter may be primarily trained in judo while the opponent’s speciality is boxing, which can have a big impact on how matches play out. It’s worth knowing who can bust out which moves.
• Weight Divisions – Fighters can move up and down weight divisions to fight opponents, and this often has mixed results. Conor McGregor was champion in two weight classes but suffered his first UFC loss against Nate Diaz after moving up to welterweight division, despite being favourite to win. Never assume a fighter has it in the bag.

UFC Betting Markets

With up to five rounds and a variety of possible outcomes, it’s no surprise that bookies offer UFC betting odds on a great number of markets. These are just a few of the options available at the best UFC betting sites:

• Fight winner– By far the most popular market, this is simply a bet on which fighter you think will win the matchup.
• Method of victory– Knockout? Submission? Judges’ decision? Have a punt on how a contest will be won.
• To win a round- Place this wager if you fancy a fighter to clinch a particular round.
• Winning round– As the name suggests, here you’re betting on which round the fight will be won.
• Under/over– This involves betting on there to be more or less than a certain number of rounds during a fight, such as over 2.5.
• Match length – Some bookies offer UFC bets on markets such as ‘fight to end within 59 seconds’ or ‘to go the distance’.
• Total KOs/submission – Feeling lucky? Take a punt on the total number of knockouts or submissions to occur on fight night.
• To become champion– If you think a fighter’s got a good year ahead of them, you may want to place a wager on them becoming champion by a certain date.
• Live UFC betting– The best MMA sites also offer live in-play betting, so you can set your stakes as the action unfolds. Just keep in mind that fights can swing in the blink of an eye, so watch closely!

UFC Betting Bonuses

How about boosting your starting bankroll with a sports betting bonus? There’s a whole range of attractive deals that you can use to bet on UFC online at the top bookies. Our carefully crafted list of betting sites and expert reviews of the best online bookies can help you find your ideal online UFC betting bonus. In the meantime, let’s take a peek at some of the different types of bonuses you can claim as a new customer.

Specials and Promotions

We’ve introduced you to some of the most common sportsbook welcome offers available to new customers, but the fun doesn’t stop once the welcome mat has been rolled away. On the contrary, top online betting sites come loaded with extra special features to make your UFC betting experience memorable long after you’ve cashed in the sign-up bonus. Here are some of the perks and promotions for those who are fond of a freebie.

Events-Based Promotions

In the run up to UFC Fight Night, the best bookies come out fighting with some great specials. For example, for UFC 282 in Las Vegas, William Hill offered new customers 200/1 on NYC fighter Jared Gordon beating homegrown hero Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett by KO or TKO. As an existing customer, you’re unlikely to see odds quite so good as those, though daily odds boost deals serve up the perfect chance to squeeze a bit more profit from winning UFC bets. 

Request A Bet

Not seeing the wager you want for a showdown between Russian MMA legend Magomed Ankalaev and Polish powerhouse Jan Blachowicz? The best bookies invite you to request custom betting odds for any bet you fancy. Most make it quick and easy to get your price too, usually asking you to hit them up over Twitter with details of what you want to put on your betslip. For example, you can use #PickYourPunt to request custom odds from Betfred. 

Reload Bonuses

Reload bonuses work in the same way as matched deposit bonuses for new customers. They may not be quite so generous, perhaps capping the max bonus amount at something like £20 rather than £50 or £100. No matter — it’s always great to grab some extra bonus cash to enjoy betting on MMA stars like Kevin Holland and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson as they do their stuff in the Octagon.  You may need to wager winnings, so be sure to check the T&Cs. 

Cashback

Every bettor can have a good run, but you’re unlikely to win all the bets you place on top UFC fighters like ‘Tiny Tornado’ Tecia Torres and ‘Cupcake’ Miesha Tate. While losing is as much a part of the online betting experience as winning, some bookies soften the blow by returning a percentage of your net losses. Cashback may be offered on specific days, on weekly losses, or even on specific UFC Fight Nights. Keep an eye on the promos page to see what pops up. 

Acca Insurance

Fancy wrapping up bets on different fights into one wager, and creating custom odds as you do? Accas are a great way to give UFC betting odds some oomph, but it can be disappointing if just one pick lets you down. Acca Insurance returns your stake as a free bet credit or cash if the worst happens and a single leg fails. Paddy Power is an online bookie with this type of promotion. Here, you can get a free bet up to £10 if one leg of your 4+ acca is a bust. You can claim this offer daily.

Free Bet Clubs

Free bets aren’t just for newbies, with plenty of our top sportsbooks handing out regular free bets to existing customers via a bet club. To bag a freebie, these clubs require you to place bets of a certain total value, usually over the course of a week. For example, at Bet Storm, you can score a £20 free bet by betting £50 each Monday. All you need to do is input the specific code, make the deposit and your free bet credit will be added to your account. 

Mobile UFC Betting

You don’t need to be sitting at home on your laptop to bet on UFC- pretty much all MMA betting sites are mobile-friendly. This means that you can sign up, claim bonuses and bet whenever, wherever, all in just a few simple clicks.

The top UFC betting sites also have mobile betting apps for both Android and iPhone, which are a must for fans of mobile betting. Mobile betting apps provide easier, faster and more convenient betting, as well as push notifications so that you never miss out on the latest bonuses, enhanced odds or exclusive betting markets.

UFC Betting Payment Methods

You’ll need to deposit funds to your new online betting account to get stuck into UFC betting online, and the cashier pages of most top bookies come loaded with options to help you do exactly that. Let’s look at some of the different banking methods you might find on the menu.

Bet Responsibly at UFC Betting Sites 

Firing up a UFC betting site to bet on the action in the world-famous Octagon is thrilling stuff but it’s important to keep things fun and stay on top of your gambling habits. Not doing so can lead to some pretty serious problems down the line, so it pays to gamble responsibly in the present. Unfortunately, even the best intentions won’t stop some people from developing problem gambling habits. You can find out about some of the signs that gambling has gotten out of control below. We also include some links to helpful resources for problem gamblers. 

Warning Signs of Problem Gambling

Here are some of the red flags that might indicate gambling has become a problem:

• Blowing your budget – Regularly going over budget when gambling may indicate an inability to stop. This is a particular problem if the money was meant for other things. 
• Getting into debt – Blowing your budget is one thing but getting into debt to gamble more is a sign that things aren’t going so well. Borrowing cash to gamble is a problem. 
• Feeling preoccupied with gambling – Excessive thoughts about gambling can mean there’s an issue. Talk to someone instead at GamCare.
• Living in denial – Lying to friends and family about the extent of your gambling can be indicative that you are gambling irresponsibly. Talk openly at Gamblers Anonymous. 
• Ruining relationships – When gambling jeopardises close relationships, there’s a problem. BeGambleAware supports both problem gamblers and their loved ones.
• Feeling you can’t stop – Feeling compelled to keep gambling or being unable to reduce the amount you bet is a sign that gambling has become an addiction.
• Experiencing negative emotions – Gambling to avoid feelings of depression, anxiety or guilt indicates there’s a problem. The NHS can help.

Sign Up to Bet on UFC

All clued in on UFC? Great- it’s time to get betting! We’ve rounded up the very best UFC betting sites on the web to make finding your ideal bookie a walk in the park. Don’t forget to check out our expert reviews, where you’ll get to know everything a sportsbook has to offer. Once you’ve made your choice, follow our link to take you straight to the sign up where you can create your account and start betting. Good luck!