MMA Betting

International Fight Week is upon us and the UFC have put together a very good card for the occasion. The only blot on the landscape is a fairly uncompetitive looking main event but we can forgive that when the rest of the card is so stacked with excellent fights. Let's get to it!

Gilbert Melendez v Arnold Allen

An interesting match up on the early prelims between the wiliest of veterans in Melendez and the surging new(ish)comer in Allen.

Melendez has been at, or near, the very top of the…

Short and sweet this week. A half decent card from Bellator this evening (early Saturday morning in the UK) but there are only a couple of fights I'm interested in from a betting standpoint. Let's crack straight on with it.

Kyoji Horiguchi v Darrion Caldwell

I'm puzzled, to say the least, by the odds on this fight.

5 months ago these two fought in the final of the Rizin Grand Prix. Horiguchi won that in the 3rd by guillotine choke in what was an exciting back and forth scrap.

Since …

Not the greatest card I've ever seen but some half decent fights and some half decent opportunities for us. A bit disappointed that Ilir Latifi has had to withdraw because I thought Oezdemir was a very nice price to beat him here but I guess you can't have it all.

Let's take a look at some bets we an actually have!

Leonardo Santos v Stevie Ray

An interesting match up here. Ray has been fairly lacklustre since joining the UFC and there is a chance that he is fighting for his promotiona…

This is a lack lustre card with little star power outside the main event. Nonetheless, there are a few opportunities and it's going to be a busy evening from a betting view point. Let's get straight to it.

I'm not a huge fan of favourite backing in MMA because bookmakers tend to price them too short. However, there are occasions when the value does lie with the favourite - and opportunities to bet the value AND the most likely winner have to be viewed as gilt edged.

Alex Oliveira v Mike …

A really terrific card for the first ESPN pay per view - not a huge number of great fights but the main and co-main are absolute top drawer.

Let's get on with it!

Wilson Reis v Alexandre Pantoja

A really interesting flyweight match up between two high class Brazilian jiu jitsu players.

I'm surprised to see Pantoja installed as the favourite in this one. When two really good ground specialists meet, they often cancel each other out and the fight ends up staying on the feet. if that happ…

A diabolical card here to be honest with only a couple of half interesting fights (though the main event is potentially a fight of the year candidate) and some extremely lacklustre support.

Even worse, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of value to be had so I'm not going to be getting heavily involved. In fact there is only one bet that is jumping out at me.

Paul Craig V Kennedy Nzechukwu

Paul Craig has had kind of a rough deal in the UFC in my view and he deserved a bit more of a gi…

As usually happens when the UFC comes to Europe, we have a bit of a nothing card. The headline fights at these events are always the kind that would be on the prelims anywhere else! Ah well, we have to work with what is presented to us and I think I've spotted a couple of reasonable wagers for us to have a tilt at.

John Dodson v Petr Yan

An interesting match up here between the surging Petr Yan and the seemingly fading John Dodson. Three years ago, Dodson would have been long odds on here…

A crammed weekend of action with two Bellator events followed by a big fight night in Phoenix from the UFC. With 34 fights across the 3 events, I've been very busy these last couple of days getting my head around where my money should be going. Here's what I decided.

Matt Mitrione v Sergei Kharitonov

A heavyweight match up for the main event of Bellator 215 and to be honest, it's the only half way interesting fight on the entire card.

The bookies make this a pick-em fight with both men pr…

Considering this is the first Pay per View Event of the year, I have to say I'm pretty underwhelmed by this card. Not by the top two fights, which are top draw, but by the lack of depth. Beyond those first two, the quality of the match ups drops off very fast. It's also been a lot more difficult to find any value this week - and in order to find any we are having to go for a real longshot. Be warned and be cautious - one of these is a very speculative bet indeed.

Lando Vannata v Marcos Rosa …

A decent card from Brazil and there are 3 fights I want to cover in this post. There is plenty of value available if you're prepared to look beyond the obvious.

Anthony Hernandez v Markus Perez

I'm not really sure why Anthony Hernandez is quite such a favourite here.

Markus Perez may not be a world beater but I think he's a very tough first UFC outing for Anthony Hernandez, particularly when Perez in his own back yard with a partisan Brazilian crowd behind him (and Brazilian judges to …