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The UFC is finally back!
After having a series of events canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the UFC returns to action this Saturday, May 9, 2020, for UFC 249 which is scheduled to take place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
With most of sports currently in a hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus, the UFC not only gives us sports back but it also allows us to resume our sports betting activities which were also slowed down by the pandemic.
But because the UFC isn’t as popular as the NBA, NFL, MLB or the NHL, you might not be too familiar in making UFC bets. Don’t worry because we’re here to help you make your bets for UFC 249 and check our picks section:
UFC Rankings And Statistics
MMA fighters are divided by weight classes and they are ranked per division. The UFC has eight weight classes for men and another four for the women. These divisions range from strawweight to heavyweight. The men’s side doesn’t have a strawweight division while the women’s side only has strawweight, flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight.
The fighters are ranked per weight class and if you look at the official UFC rankings, the promotion lists down the Top 15 per division. The UFC rankings are important because when you make UFC bets, the first thing that you need to know ( if you don’t know the fighters that much) is to look at where they stand among the competition. Of course, the fighters ranked higher are expected to be the better fighters or the ones who are currently doing well. If one or both fighters are not on the list, there is another tool that you can look at to compare the two protagonists.
Aside from Rankings, the UFC also has a website that compiles the fighters statistics. Formerly known as Fightmetric, the site is now called ufcstats.com. This site has a list of the promotion’s next event and it lists all the fights included in the event, including the prelims undercard bouts which usually features lesser-known fighters.
UFC Stats provides the tale of the tape of every fight. You can compare the fighters’ age, height, reach, stance, and the average length of fights. Aside from these, the fighters’ striking and grappling stats ( UFC fights only ) are readily available. Using these stats, you can determine what style of fighting does a fighter has. A history of the fighters’ most recent bouts is displayed so you will get an idea of his form heading to the bout.
Analyzing Fighters
After researching on the rankings and statistics, you now have the data you need to analyze fights. Using the data, you will be able to determine whether a fighter is a striker or a grappler.
When we talk about a striker, he’s a fighter who prefers to fight in the stand-up position. These fighters usually have a boxing or kickboxing background. They are good boxers and also utilize their legs with kicks. Justin Gaethje is the perfect example of a UFCfighter who is primarily a striker. 18 of his 21 wins have come by knockout.
When you look at the stats, don’t just take a look at how many strikes a fighter lands per minute. Consider also his striking accuracy, striking defense, and the number of strikes he absorbs per 60 seconds.
A grappler is one who likes to fight on the ground. Usually, these are fighters who have elite wrestling backgrounds or those who have Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expertise. Instead of fighting on their feet, they take the fight to the ground using takedowns and they try to win the bout with control, submission, or ground and pound.
UFC Stats will tell you how many takedowns per 15 minutes a fighter can complete. It also reveals his accuracy in landing takedowns, his percentage of takedown defense and submission attempts per 15 minutes.
Examining The Matchup
After determining what kind of fighters are involved in a particular match-up, your next assignment will be to examine the matchup. If the two fighters are both strikers then it is an easier fight to examine because these fighters will spend most if not all of the time fighting on their feet. In this type of match-up, look at their striking stats. Which fighter lands more strikes? Which one gets hit ore often? Who is the accurate striker? Who can avoid more hits? Who has the better knockout power? Once you have the answers, you likely have picked the winner.
When the two fighters are grapplers, you have to look at which one can land more takedowns in a fight and which fighter can land takedowns with accuracy. At the same time, you have to determine who can defend takedowns better and who attempts submission moves more often.
The fighter who can land and defend on the ground should be the one to dominate a fight that is spent on the mat. Don’t forget to take a look at who has more submission wins. A fighter who is a good submission artist always has a big chance on the ground.
Please Note
Things get interesting when you have a grappler vs a striker or either two against a well-rounded fighter. This is the case with the UFC 249 main event as Gaethje is primarily a striker while Tony Ferguson is a well-rounded fighter who not only has knockout power but also excellent submissions skills.
These fights are tougher to decipher but the more you read and the more you bet, the more you will be familiar with the UFC. Just remember that every fight starts on the feet so a striker with a good takedown defense has a good chance of beating a grappler. Or a grappler has a good chance of beating a striker who doesn’t have good takedown defense and doesn’t have knockout power. And so on.
Making the Bet
There are two basic UFC bets to make: The Moneyline and Over/Under Rounds. When we say Moneyline, it’s simply a bet on which fighter wins the fight. The over/under rounds lets you bet on whether a fight will go beyond a specific time or not. The time is set in rounds and it doesn’t matter who wins the fight.
Aside from the two basic bets, big UFC events like UFC 249 also have prop betting. These proposition bets include round betting where you pick a specific round when the fight will end, method of victory where you choose whether a fighter wins the fight on points, knockout, or submission. Prop bets on the fight going the distance or not is also familiar.
Big fights like Ferguson and Gaethje also produce unconventional prop bets like.
- Which fighter will bleed first?
- Or will a winner mention the word COVID-19?
In the past, Conor McGregor’s bouts had prop bets ranging from the number of times Conor says “fook” during the post-fight interview to will he mention his whiskey brand “Proper Twelve” during the interview. There are more and others are wilder than what you can think of.
A draw is always available as a betting option in MMA fights. Sure, there is always a possibility that a fight ends in a draw. But draws happen more often in boxing than MMA. That’s because boxing fights have even number of rounds ( 4,6,8,10 or 12 ) while MMA bouts are either three or five-round fights. The odds on a draw are always very enticing but don’t bet on it.
Now that you’ve equipped yourself with what to do in betting on UFC 249, you can head to the best gambling sites so you will have access to the best odds available for the UFC’s return to action on May 9th. Betting with the best gambling sites not only ensures that you get your money’s worth but it also ensures the safety and security of your deposits.
Lastly, it’s good to read betting tips. These articles provide you with betting odds, previews, and predictions. You can follow our expert advice and bet on our picks or you can use them as a guide in making your bets. We have published our betting tips for the big fights of UFC 249 in the previous days. You can check them out in the Latest Posts portion of this site.
