UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation, founded in 1993. 

Featuring a roster of the sport’s most recognisable names, extensive worldwide coverage, and high-profile events, UFC is the clear leader in the world of mixed martial arts.  

Most bookmakers and some betting exchanges have embraced the popularity of MMA, particularly UFC, and offer betting markets for fights. 

In this guide, we’ll look into the history of mixed martial arts, techniques used, rules, common disciplines, important competitors, UFC betting markets, and where you can place your bets.

What Is Mixed Martial Arts?

Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport that has grown dramatically in popularity in recent years. 

Participants incorporate a combination of martial arts from around the world. Techniques used can be broken into striking and grappling categories. 

Although these are the main focuses of mixed martial artists, defensive blocking techniques are also used to a lesser extent. 

Striking

Arm strikes

• Punches
• Palm strikes
• Hammer fist strikes
  
• Elbow strikes
• Shoulder strikes

Leg strikes

• Knee strikes
• Kicks

Grappling

Clinch holds

These are holds used to close in on and control the opponent, often in preparation for a takedown or throw, or to prevent an opponent from moving away or striking.

Pinning holds

These are holds used as a ground fighting technique that pin the opponent to the ground. Mixed martial artists can’t win from a pinning hold, but they have several important uses:

• To allow a competitor to rest while the opponent attempts to escape
• Controlling the opponent to prevent them from striking (known as ‘lay and pray’)
• Controlling the opponent while striking them (known as ‘ground and pound’)

Submission holds

These are holds intended to force the opponent to submit to avoid extreme pain, injury, or unconsciousness. A submission is indicated by tapping the opponent with the hand. There are a range of types of submission holds:

• Choking (cutting off the opponent’s air supply) or strangling (cutting off the opponent’s blood supply), causing them to lose consciousness if they don’t submit
• Compression locks - a move that causes extreme pain by forcing a muscle into a bone
• Joint locks - these force a joint to the extreme of its range of motion, causing pain
  

Sweeps

These involve using the legs to attack the opponent’s legs to unbalance them and make them fall to the ground. 

Takedowns

A takedown is a technique that off-balances an opponent, causing them to fall to the ground, normally with the attacker landing on top of them.

Throws

A throw is a type of takedown that either involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, then throwing them to the ground

UFC Betting Markets

UFC and other MMA events have far fewer betting markets than many other sports. With lower-profile fights, bookmakers and betting exchanges will often only have the Match Winner Market. 

Match Winner

This is a bet on one of the fighters to win the fight. 

Bookmakers tend to have 2-way markets, which do not include the draw. In the unlikely event that the bout ends as a draw, bets will be voided and stakes returned. 

As of the writing of this article, there have only been six draws in UFC title fights. Four were split draws and the other two were majority draws.

This doesn’t include draws due to the maximum allowed time being reached, like the rematch in UFC5 between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, which was declared a draw after 36 minutes. 

The Match Winner market goes by many other names, including Moneyline, Fight Result, Bout Odds, Winner, Fight Betting, Match Winner, To Win The Fight

The betting exchange Smarkets lists it as Winner (Draw No Bet), to emphasise that in the event of a draw, all bets are void and stakes or liabilities will be returned. 

Here’s an example of a featured fight on Betfred, in which the only available betting market is the Match Winner market:

Over / Under Rounds

Another common market is betting on the total number of rounds. These are two-way markets, where you can bet on over or under a certain number of rounds. 

To avoid the possibility of a draw, the number of rounds will always end in .5. Here’s are examples where you can bet on Over/Under 2.5 rounds or Over/Under 4.5 rounds:

Other UFC Markets

For bigger fights like title fights, additional markets may also be available.

A popular market in combat sports is Winning Method, which sometimes has other names like Fight Outcome or Method of Victory. With this market,  you are betting on how the bout will be won.

As of the writing of this article, there aren’t any UFC markets of this type, but here’s a boxing Fight Outcome market, which will be very similar:

Round Betting is another market you might come across. Here, you’re betting on which round the fight will end in.

You might also see Round and Winning Method markets, which are common in boxing. With these markets, you’re betting on a specific round for the fight to end and the method of victory. This market will have much higher odds than either the Round Betting or Winning Method markets, due to the more specific nature of the bets.

Finding UFC and Other MMA bets

Most bookmakers have MMA betting markets. The betting exchanges offering MMA odds are Matchbook, Smarkets, and Betfair Exchange.

If a bookmaker or exchange has MMA odds, these will be found under sections titled MMA, UFC/MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts.

A Very Brief History of Mixed Martial Arts

Martial arts (fighting arts) date back thousands of years, with different countries developing their own systems. 

A natural later development was to combine the best parts of a variety of martial arts to create a hybrid or mixed martial arts style. 

Ancient China had a mixed combat sport called Leitai, which combined Chinese martial arts, boxing, and wrestling. Bouts took place on a raised platform with no barriers called a lei tai. A competitor would be defeated if they submitted, were incapacitated, or thrown from the stage. 

The ancient Greeks had a combat sport called pankration, which combined wrestling, grappling and striking. It was introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC.

Later, other countries developed their own mixed martial arts, including Savate in France, Vale Tudo in Brazil, catch wrestling in England, and Sambo in Russia. 

In 1964, renowned martial artist Bruce Lee developed a hybrid martial art called Jeet Kune Do. He had trained in boxing in the 50s, studied Wing Chun with his teacher Ip Man, and also trained in a wide range of other Chinese martial arts. 

After moving to the United States, he was also greatly influenced by Muhammad Ali’s boxing style, incorporating his footwork into his martial arts style. 

Jeet Kune Do was Bruce Lee’s attempt to take the best parts of martial arts from around the world to create the most effective unarmed combat possible. Current UFC President Dana White has described Bruce Lee as the “father of mixed martial arts.”

The Origin of UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was founded on 12th November 1993 by businessman Art Davie, and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie. 

Rorion Gracie is a member of the Gracie family, a family of Brazilian martial artists who developed Gracie jiu-jitsu (which later became known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) in the mid-1920s. 

Pre-dating the formation of the UFC, members of the Gracie family offered an open invitation to martial artists of any discipline to fight in a Vale Tudo (anything goes) contest.

This was known as the Gracie Challenge, and the intention was to demonstrate the superiority of Brazilian jiu-jitsu over other martial arts. 

In the early days of the UFC, there were minimal rules and no weight categories, partly because the Gracie family wanted to demonstrate that Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners could defeat heavier and stronger opponents. 

The first UFC tournament, now referred to as UFC1, pitted competitors from a range of disciplines against each other, including Taekwon-do, karate, savate, kickboxing, shootfighting, sumo wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The final of UFC1 featured savate fighter Gerard Gordeau against a member of the Gracie Family, Royce Gracie.

Ultimately, Gracie won by submission by rear naked choke hold after performing a takedown on Gordeau, who was unable to perform any strikes. 

Weight categories were later introduced in UFC12 in February 1997. Gloves became mandatory from UFC14 in July 1997, which also banned kicks to the head of a downed opponent. Five-minute rounds were introduced in UFC21 in July 1999. 

UFC100 in July 2009 saw a big surge in the sport's popularity. It was the most bought UFC pay-per-view ever at the time, with a buyrate of 1.6 million. 

The main event featured UFC Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar’s rematch and championship unification bout with Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Lesnar won the bout with a technical knockout in the 2nd round. 

In November 2012, Dana White, who has been UFC President since 2001, announced that UFC would feature women in future events.

Common Disciplines in MMA

MMA competitors train in a range of disciplines to improve their striking and grappling abilities. These can be broken down into disciplines that help to develop striking, clinching (controlling the opponent whilst standing), and ground grappling

Here’s a breakdown of some of the important disciplines that MMA fighters train in.

Striking Disciplines

• Boxing
• Kickboxing
• Muay Thai
• Taekwon-do
• Karate
• Sambo

Grappling Disciplines

• Judo
• Various styles of wrestling
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu

UFC Weight Divisions

The UFC has evolved since its early days, when there were no weight divisions. There are currently 8 men’s and 3 women’s weight divisions.

Men

Women

Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts

UFC matches abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, which aim to protect competitors and provide a great experience for spectators.

Rounds

• Five-minute rounds
• One-minute rest between rounds
• Non-title fights can be up to a maximum of three rounds
• Title fights can be up to five rounds

Clothing

• Approved shorts must be worn
• Shirts, gis (traditional martial arts uniforms), and trousers aren’t allowed 
• Women wear vests
• No foot padding
• Light open-finger gloves (4-6 ounces) that still allow the fingers to grab
• Mouthguard
• Groin guard

Prohibited Techniques

There is a range of prohibited techniques in MMA, including headbutts, kicking an opponent on the ground, and biting.

Further details of other prohibited techniques can be found here. 

The Octagon

All UFC fights take place in an octagonal arena consisting of a fenced-in competition mat, appropriately called The Octagon. 

The fighting space is 30 feet (9.1m) across, with the canvas floor raised 4 feet (1.2m) above the ground. The height from the canvas to the top of the fence is 5 feet, 9 inches (1.8m).

Other MMA Organisations

Although none of them are on the same level as UFC, in terms of prestige and popularity, there are several other MMA organisations. 

Here are a few of the more important ones:

• Professional Fighters League (PFL) - Owners of Bellator since 2023. The Bellator name is still used for some high-profile fights.
• Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA)
• Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW)
• ONE Championship. Oktagon MMA
• Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA)

Prominent Mixed Martial Artists

Competitors from around the world compete in UFC. The United States has by far the most fighters, making up around a third of all competitors.

Around one sixth of all current competitors are Brazilian, with other countries making up a much smaller proportion. 

Other countries with at least 10 UFC fighters, as of the writing of this article, are Russia, England, Mexico, China, Australia, Canada, France, and Poland. 

Some of the toughest and best UFC fighters come from the Dagestan region of Russia, including the fighter with the most impressive undefeated record, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Here’s a selection of UFC records, highlighting some key fighters and matches:

• Khabib Nurmagomedov - retired undefeated with 29 MMA wins and no losses or draws, of which 13 were UFC fights
• Royce Gracie - first UFC winner (November 12th 1993)
• Randy Couture - oldest champion (45 years 147 days)
• Jon Jones - youngest champion (23 years 8 months) and most wins in title bouts (16)
• Amanda Nunes - the first and only fighter to retire as a multi-division champion in UFC history (featherweight and bantamweight)
• Anderson Silva - most consecutive wins in UFC history (16) and longest reign as champion (6 years 8 months)
• Royce Gracie v Ken Shamrock - longest fight in UFC history (36 minutes)
• Jorge Masvidal - fastest knockout (5 seconds)
• Connor McGregor - fastest title fight knockout (13 seconds)
• Oleg Taktarov - fastest submission
• Ronda Rousey - first female fighter signed to UFC, first female bantamweight winner, fastest title fight submission (14 seconds)

Possible Outcomes and Scoring

Most UFC fights are settled as either a loss or a win, although there are a couple of other possibilities. 

Win

This is when a competitor defeats their opponent. This can be achieved in several ways:

• Knockout (KO) - When a fighter is rendered unable to continue by their opponent
• Technical Knockout (TKO) - This could be because the referee has decided that a fighter cannot continue the fight safely, if a fighter’s corner asks for the bout to be stopped, or a doctor stoppage due to injury
• Submission - when a competitor ‘taps out’ to avoid pain, injury, or unconsciousness
• Technical Submission - when the fight is stopped by the referee when a competitor has sustained a serious injury like a broken limb, or has been rendered unconscious
• Decision - this is when one of the fighters has at least two judges voting in their favour. With a unanimous decision, all three judges score in one fighter’s favour. A majority decision is where two judges score in one fighter’s favour and the other scores it as a draw. A split decision occurs when two judges score in one fighter’s favour and the third scores in their opponent’s favour.

Loss

This is when a fighter loses for one of the above reasons.

Draw

Draws occur if the contest has been declared a draw based on the scores. A unanimous draw is where all three judges score the fight as a draw. A split draw is where one of the three judges scores in favour of one fighter, another scores in favour of their opponent, and the third judges that it was a draw. A majority draw occurs when two judges score the fight as a draw and the other scores in favour of one of the fighters.

Disqualification

This can happen if a fighter makes an illegal move, like biting or using a strike that breaches the rules.

No Contest (NC)

This is when a fight has been settled for an external reason, for example, a failed drugs test. A result on the night can be overturned at a later date and settled as a No Contest.

Summary

UFC is a fascinating sport that has seen a huge surge in popularity over recent years. 

It has a rich and fascinating history and sees highly skilled fighters from around the world fighting for supremacy and the highly-valued title belt for their weight division. 

Although there is usually only a very limited number of markets available to bet on with UFC, the all-important and very popular Match Winner market will always be present. 

Although currently unconfirmed, there is lots of talk of a highly anticipated future clash between current heavyweight champion Jon Jones, from the US, and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, from England, there’s never been a more exciting time to follow UFC. 

Jones has reportedly asked for a staggering $30 million to fight Aspinall. If this is agreed upon, it will comfortably be the largest fight purse ever paid in UFC.