Want to learn how to bet on MMA? Boardroom’s primer will help you hone your approach ahead of UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2.
UFC 271 nearly upon us. Saturday night’s belligerence features a monumental middleweight championship showdown between belt-holder Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker at the Honda Center in Houston, Texas.
Adding to the festivities is a hometown hero in Derrick Lewis, who takes on Tai Tuivasa in a heavyweight clash set as the co-main event. But before the night begins, let’s roll through your complete UFC 271 betting guide for a packed night of fights.
UFC 271 at a Glance
The main storyline: UFC 271 will feature Puma representative Israel Adesanya taking on Robert Whittaker for his Middleweight championship. Currently, Adesanya holds a victory over Whittaker at UFC 243 via KO by punches. The event crowned Adesanya as the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.
Where: UFC 271 takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This marks the 9th time that the UFC has put on an event in the area. The highest attendest recorded for the UFC at the Toyota Center was UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes, with an attendance of 17,401.
When: Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, at 6 p.m. EST for the early prelims), while the remaining undercard begins at 8 pm. The main card follows at 10 p.m.
How to watch: The early preliminary bouts will air on ESPN+. The traditional undercard is set to air on ESPN and ESPN+, with the main card airing exclusively on ESPN+ PPV.
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MMA Betting Methodology 101
Betting in mixed martial arts isn’t always as simple as choosing a winner in a fight. There are different approaches that a bettor can take when betting on combat sports to get superior odds. After reading the different ways to bet, fans will decide how they want to approach the matchups.
Money Line
As with most sports you’re already familiar with, the money line is the traditional way to approach a bet in combat sports — you’re simply picking who’s going to win. Selecting the method in which the contest will end isn’t necessary, nor is predicting whether the
Are the plus and minus symbols confusing? Let’s break it down for you while using the odds for the main event of the night.
Adesanya (-290) is favored to win over his opponent Robert Whittaker (+235) at FanDuel Sportsbook. This means betting $265 on Adesanya will win you $100. On the contrary, betting $100 on Whittaker would win a juicy payout of $210.
Think minus; I have to bet this to win $100. For plus, I’ll win this if I bet $100.
Method of Victory
Choosing the method of victory pays out better odds more or less as a rule, and the result can be established in two ways: Bettors can (1) place the bet on the process by which a fight ends regardless of winner or (2) get even better odds by picking both the victorious fighter and their method of victory.
Using the same example, betters could choose either Adesanya or Whittaker to win by knockout, submission, or decision. The largest payout is usually predicting a draw (for those who are bold enough to go that route).
The current odds for a draw in the UFC 271 main event are +5000, meaning a $100 bet would win you $5,000 if that outcome were to occur.
MMA Prop Bets
MMA prop bets are usually whimsical bets that a sportsbook releases that don’t necessarily have to do with the fight’s outcome.
In MMA, they’re primarily clock-based, with common props built around whether a fight does or does not “go the distance” and heads to the judges’ scorecards, or over-unders based on a set number of rounds, typically 1.5 or 2.5.
Parlays
A parlay is a host of bets all strung together that all must cash in order to earn any payout. For example, a bettor could wager $15 for Adesanya, Brunson, and Casey O’Neil to win and parlay those money line bets together. If all three fighters win, the payout will be significantly larger than placing these bets individually at $5 apiece — your winnings from each leg of the parlay are effectively rolled into the next.
However, if a single outcome is ultimately incorrect, the bettor walks home empty-handed. High payouts, tremendous fun, and the riskiest bet to place in mixed martial arts.
UFC 271 Card & Betting Odds Guide
Main Card Odds
Middleweight championship: Israel Adesanya (c) (-290) vs. Robert Whittaker (+235)
Heavyweight: Derrick Lewis (-188) vs. Tai Tuivasa (+158)
Middleweight: Jared Cannonier (-172) vs. Derek Brunson (+144)
Lightweight: Bobby Green (-152) vs. Nasrat Hapqarast (+128)
Lightweight: Alexander Hernandez (+144) vs.Renato Moicano (-172)
UFC 271 Main Card Betting Analysis
- All of the fighters in the red corner (designating a higher division ranking) are favored to win their fights over the blue corner except for Alex Hernandez, who’s a mild underdog against former featherweight Renato Moicano.
- Derrick Lewis is slightly favored to win over Tai Tuivasa. Futhermore, oddsmakers at Fanduel have the best odds for the fight ending in a knockout for Lewis in round 1 (-120)
- Derek Brunson has been the underdog in the last four of his five fights. He’s went on to win each of his last five.
- Hernandez is currently 5-3 in his UFC career and is upset at the promotion with his placement on the card. Three of his five victories have all come by way of knockout.
- The current odds for Hernandez to win via KO is an underdog bet at (+230)
Prelim Card Odds
Heavyweight: Andrei Arlovski (-148) vs. Jared Vanderaa (+126)
Women’s flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi (+320) vs.Casey O’Neill (-405)
Bantamweight: Kyler Phillips (-420) vs. Marcelo Rojo (+330)
Light heavyweight: Carlos Ulberg (-245) vs. Fabio Charant (+200)
NOTE: A scheduled flyweight bout between Alex Perez and Matt Schnell was cancelled after Perez was unable to make weight.
UFC 271 Prelim Card Betting Analysis
- UFC 271 is the retirement fight for 20+ year veteran fighter and trailblazer Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi.
- Roxy has only been the betting favorite three times in her UFC career. Her biggest odds upset came while she was +300 against Maycee Barber, who was a whopping -400.
- Roxy has defied the odds many times in the past. She might just do it again.
Early Prelim Card Odds
Women’s bantamweight: Leomana Martinez (+250) vs. Ronnie Lawrence (-310)
Middleweight: AJ Dobson (-120) vs. Jacob Malkoun (+102)
Bantamweight: Douglas Silva de Andrade (+184) vs. Sergey Morozov (-220)
Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells (-225) vs. Mike Mathetha (+188)
Heavyweight: William Knight (+148) vs. Maxim Grishin (-176)
UFC 271 Early Prelim Betting Analyis
- Mike Mathetha, a.k.a. “Blood Diamond,” is a hot UFC prospect and longtime training partner of Israel Adesanya. This event will be his UFC debut, after winning three out of three fights in other promotions.
- “Blood Diamond” has a long decorated kickboxing career with over 100 bouts .
- Additionally, he is a two-time winner of the King of the Ring kickboxing tournament in New Zealand
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UFC 271 Betting Guide Disclaimer
Boardroom does not predict the outcomes of fights for readers, so the information in this column shall not be considered betting advice. We provide the knowledge and tools a bettor needs to understand types of bets, odds, and facts in order to make wagers based on their own judgment.
The current odds listed within the guide are real-time and subjected to change via the sportsbook. Odds reflected in this piece may not be the final odds before fight night and can be verified by visiting FanDuel Sportsbook.
Historic fight odds data comes via Best Fight Odds.
