Over a half century ago there wasn’t a bigger sport in America to wager on than boxing. The electricity of a prize fight was like nothing else. Millions of people listened to their transistor radios to hear the punches of Joe Frazier, Joe Lewis or Mohammed Ali. But that was a different era and boxing is on the back-burner for most young adults. UFC fighting and viewership however, is definitely on the rise. Both can be wagered on in the same manner via money line or Over/Under wagering similar to baseball or hockey.
Let’s look at a boxing example and UFC example to understand their lines. They are exactly similar in appearance and wagering for all intents and purposes:
Heavyweight 12 rounds – Phones 4u Arena – Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Sat 7/26 301 Dereck Chisora +175 o8½ -135
5:00PM 302 Tyson Fury -225 u8½ +105
UFC 180 – Heavyweight 5 rounds – Arena Mexico – Mexico City, Mexico – PPV
Sat 11/15 1001 Fabricio Werdum +350 o2½ +100
11:00PM 1002 Cain Velasquez -485 u2½ -130
Like some tennis match-ups you can see that there can be a wide gap in talent according to the bookmakers. In our first example we see that there is a 12 round Heavyweight fight between Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury. Fury is a favorite to emerge victorious. To win $100 picking that he will win the fight via knockout or decision you must risk $225. If on the other hand you like Geale to score the upset, a wager of $100 will win you $175 plus your original $100 wager.
UFC lines operate the exact same as boxing. You can see that our example has Cain Velasquez as a favorite against Fabricio Werdum. One must wager $485 to win $100 if they like Velasquez to win via sumbission, knockout, or decision. Conversely if they like Werdum to win, $100 would net them $350 plus their original stake.
Like most other sports you can also wager on how many rounds the event will last. A boxing match will end early if there is a knockout, retirement, or disqualification. A UFC fight will end early due to a submission, disqualification, or knockout. For the boxing example, the odds makers have set the total a 8.5 with an inflated price on the over. If you think it will last more than 8.5 rounds you can wager $135 to win $100. If on the other hand you are expecting an early knockout you can wager under 8.5 rounds and earn $105 for every $100 you wager plus your original stake. Since UFC fights are typically 5 rounds or less you can see from our example that the Over/Under of the UFC fight is 2.5 rounds.
Although boxing betting in America is on the decline, there has been a steady increase in UFC betting and it is continuing to gain momentum, presenting many more betting options for those that follow the sport closely.
Click on these links for a more in depth look at the betting concepts – Money Lines and Over/Under Betting.
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