Mixed martial arts, or MMA for short, is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It it is also an extremely popular betting sport with virtually all sportsbooks in Nevada and offshore posting MMA odds and taking action on fights. MMA combines a variety of fighting techniques including stand up disciplines like boxing or karate along with ground fighting skills based in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Most top MMA competitors have a background in one or more of these formal disciplines, but the sport is starting to develop its own techniques and strategies.

In the United States, the MMA scene is dominated by the Las Vegas based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC betting is a staple at most Nevada and offshore sportsbooks providing a small but significant part of their overall ‘handle’. Stable ownership and greater regulatory oversight helped the UFC promotion and sport of MMA gain wider acceptance in the United States. More and more states began to regulate MMA events, and the UFC has benefited from an increase in mainstream media coverage. Today, the UFC is a highly successful company worth by some estimations in excess of $1 billion US. The UFC runs monthly PPV events that attract hundreds of thousands of viewers, with top shows drawing in excess of 1 million PPV buys. There are a number of smaller MMA promotions in the United States, along with Japan, Great Britain and Eastern Europe.

Sports betting on MMA and UFC events is similar to boxing betting—you can bet on which fighter you think will win a matchup and some sports books offer additional proposition bets. One popular form of wager allows the bettor to select not only which fighter will win but how they'll do so—knockout, submission or decision. Another common type of MMA proposition bet adapted from boxing is the over/under round prop. In this type of bet the bettor decides whether the fight will end before a certain point ('Under') or after that point ('Over'). For example, in the UFC 135 fight between Jon Jones and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson the over/under round prop was set at 2.5 rounds.

Like any sports betting discipline, getting the edge on the linesmaker takes hard work and extensive research. More often than not, the bettor is advised to look for 'live dogs' on a UFC betting card—these are underdogs that may be undervalued by the wagering public but that have a very good chance of winning the fight. Undervalued dogs are common in MMA since the public often places too much of an emphasis on the 'big name' fighter or the fighter that has received more TV time and promotion from the UFC. The talent pool in the UFC isn't very deep and once you get past the top few fighters in each weight class there's not much qualitative difference between UFC fighters and those in other promotions. For that reason, betting on the fighter with less UFC experience is often a good way to find value.

Finally, the best handicapping tool for MMA fights is your own two eyes. There's plenty of video clips of fights from even the most obscure fighter to be found online and this allows you to get a feel for an individual competitor's skill set including his strengths and weaknesses. Another valuable way to use this resource is to look at fights between 'common opponents' to look for traits that could come into play in a specific fight.

MMA may not be the oldest sport on the board at the sports book but like any other game it can be beat with hard work, research and intelligent betting. Keep in mind that linesmakers haven't been following the sport any longer than you have and this means that it's a sport in which you can know as much as the guy on the other side of the counter.