MMA Betting - Favorites vs Underdogs, which is better?!?!
When betting on MMA should you bet on the favorites or the underdogs? This page continually updates with all major MMA / UFC fights. We'll have a look at simply betting on all favorites or underdogs, we'll break things down by the position on the fight card and we'll look at all levels of underdog / favorite to see what sort of odds over / under-perform their predicted win percentage.
Note, these results use best available odds at either the time the lines closed, just before the fight, or around 7 hours before the first fight of the night, where possible (events after 7th Nov 2014). Of course, if you bet several days / weeks before the fight, you'll get different odds.
MMA / UFC Betting - Favorite vs Underdog Returns over Time
The following MMA stats are based on a $10 bet on the favourite / underdog for every fight on the card.
% Win Chance: A conversion of the bookmaker's odds into their % probability of a win for fighters in this odds range. % Won: The percentage of fighters that actually won in that odds range. Avg % Win Chance: The average bookmaker odds for the fighters in this odds range. = Odds of: Avg % Win Chance converted into odds format. Over / Under Perform: Here we compare the Avg % Win Chance (i.e. what percentage of the fights the bookmaker says these fighters should win), with how many actually won. Over performing means more fighters are winning in this odds bracket than should and under performing (negative number) means this odds range under performs and would not be good to bet on.
% Win Chance
=Odds
Fights
Won
Lost
% Won
% Won
Avg % Win Chance
= Odds
Over / Under Perform
Bet $10 on
all fights (ROI)
<10%
+900
36
4
32
11%
8%
+1,146
3%
$138 (38%)
10-15%
+900 to +567
165
13
152
8%
13%
+686
-5%
$-628 (-38%)
15-20%
+567 to +400
305
48
257
16%
18%
+471
-2%
$-311 (-10%)
20-25%
+400 to +300
488
85
403
17%
22%
+351
-5%
$-1,050 (-22%)
25-30%
+300 to +233
651
175
476
27%
27%
+264
-1%
$-135 (-2%)
30-35%
+233 to +186
770
248
522
32%
33%
+206
-0%
$-99 (-1%)
35-40%
+186 to +150
833
326
507
39%
37%
+168
2%
$411 (5%)
40-45%
+150 to +122
988
425
563
43%
42%
+137
1%
$211 (2%)
45-50%
+122 to +100
707
338
369
48%
47%
+112
1%
$87 (1%)
50-55%
+100 to -122
874
447
427
51%
52%
-110
-1%
$-193 (-2%)
55-60%
-122 to -150
884
492
392
56%
58%
-137
-2%
$-328 (-4%)
60-65%
-150 to -186
890
530
360
60%
62%
-166
-3%
$-413 (-5%)
65-70%
-186 to -233
810
547
263
68%
68%
-208
-0%
$-6 (-0%)
70-75%
-233 to -300
567
411
156
72%
72%
-262
0%
$8 (0%)
75-80%
-300 to -400
508
400
108
79%
77%
-334
2%
$118 (2%)
80-85%
-400 to -567
421
362
59
86%
82%
-461
4%
$195 (5%)
85-90%
-567 to -900
175
149
26
85%
87%
-675
-2%
$-39 (-2%)
90% +
-900
89
82
7
92%
92%
-1,139
0%
$2 (0%)
5082
5079
You can see there's a dead zone in terms of slight to fairly significant favorites under performing compared to their suggested win percentage. I would suggest this is market forces, whereby bettors are putting money on slight favorites and pushing out their odds beyond what should really be a pickem fight. As a result, betting on slight to fairly signifincant underdogs is massively more productive and successful. As it stands now, you could blindly bet on all dogs in this range and make money, so with that a base to your logic, if you are handicapping fights, this is a great place to start!
Massive favorites are currently slightly outperforming their odds but with such fine margins, it's super important to get the best odds possible. Casually betting on big favorites with one bookmaker and not shopping around, would likely end up losing you money.
Winner Odds By Card Position
Draws and NCs have been excluded.
Position
Fights
Fav Wins
%
Dog Wins
%
Avg Odds (Winner)
Fav | Dog
$10 on all Favs
$10 on all Dogs
Main Event
554
388
70%
166
30%
-115
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-551 (ROI: -10%)
Co Main
530
340
64%
190
36%
-111
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$109 (ROI: 2%)
3
518
355
69%
163
31%
-115
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-524 (ROI: -10%)
4
519
369
71%
150
29%
-115
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-625 (ROI: -12%)
5
497
351
71%
146
29%
-113
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-846 (ROI: -17%)
6
458
312
68%
146
32%
-110
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-296 (ROI: -6%)
7
426
304
71%
122
29%
-117
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-878 (ROI: -21%)
8
456
320
70%
136
30%
-107
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-614 (ROI: -13%)
9
412
286
69%
126
31%
-116
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-742 (ROI: -18%)
10
405
283
70%
122
30%
-107
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-631 (ROI: -16%)
11
361
242
67%
119
33%
-104
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-150 (ROI: -4%)
12
261
186
71%
75
29%
-121
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-576 (ROI: -22%)
13
129
92
71%
37
29%
-123
$inf (ROI: inf%)
$-281 (ROI: -22%)
MMA Handicapper Directory Performance
Tracking all handicappers in our MMA Handicapper directory, here is their performance on underdogs vs favorites. Big favorite constitutes a higher than 65% chance of winning, according to the bookmaker odds. Big underdog is less than 35%.
Picks
Correct
% Correct
Units Bet
Units Profit
Profit per Pick
ROI
Big Favorites
100996 (18%)
74561
74%
391,683.11
9,093.84
0.09
2%
Slight Favorites
190500 (34%)
108237
57%
514,944.68
-11,020.63
-0.06
-2%
Slight Underdogs
189137 (34%)
82480
44%
393,227.79
9,092.62
0.05
2%
Big Underdogs
83591 (15%)
22290
27%
136,705.43
-4,133.01
-0.05
-3%
Conclusion
So which is better? Well the UFC Fight Night - Mir vs. Bigfoot event was the biggest upset event in MMA history. Of 11 fights, 10 underdogs won, taking the bookmakers to the cleaners! In general, our period of events so far has been much more favorable to underdogs than normal. In general, according to MMA Junkie, 31.5% of underdogs won in 2014 (UFC fights only). Whereas under our system so far, that stands at
33%. Of the fights we picked, that's even higher, at nan%.
This page will continue to update automatically, so check back at any time for the latest statistic of which is better to pick in UFC / MMA fights: underdogs or favorites.
Notes & Donations
Althought the stats pages are programmed to update automatically, the base information is all added manually. If you noticed I've missed off a debut, or incorrectly marked a fighter as a debut, please let me know on twitter or facebook.
If these stats have helped you, or if you just appreciate the effort, you're more than welcome to donate. Any small amount is greatly appreciated! :)