Find odds for UFC 287 and UFC on ESPN: Holloway vs. Allen, as well as planned and potential future UFC events and more below. You can choose from a variety of prop bets, straight moneyline wagers and multi-fight parlays, all while comparing UFC and MMA event odds from multiple legal US sportsbooks. The UFC is a worldwide MMA fight promotion that operates events year-round, offering some form of fight action almost every weekend.
UFC odds and betting lines
For most bettors in the United States and Ontario, there are multiple betting options to choose from for UFC events. The tables below will help you compare odds from various legal sportsbooks in order to find the best lines for the fights you want to bet on.
UFC 287 odds
The UFC’s next big event takes place on April 8, as the fight promotion heads to Miami for a middleweight title rematch between current 185-pound champ Alex Pereira and former champ Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. These two had some memorable battles in kickboxing before they both transitioned to MMA, where Pereira took Adesanya’s UFC title via fifth-round TKO last November. Now they meet again in the main event of this pay-per-view, and despite having won the last fight and the kickboxing bouts, Pereira once again opens as a slight underdog against Adesanya.
In the co-main event of UFC 287, former welterweight title challengers Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal meet in what could be a title eliminator at 170 pounds. Masvidal remains popular with fans and will certainly have the backing of the crowd in his hometown of Miami, but he’s coming off three straight losses and hasn’t had a win since 2019. Burns, meanwhile, submitted Neil Magny in the first round of a fight in January.
We’ll have more information on further odds and prop bets as they become available when fight night gets closer.
UFC future and potential fight odds
Some sportsbooks offer odds on UFC bouts that have been planned or discussed, but not yet officially signed or attached to any specific UFC event. Some even offer odds on fights that may happen but have not had any serious discussion. While you can place bets on those fights, typically they will be void if the fight does not take place by the end of the current calendar year. Here are some odds on potential future UFC bouts:
Conor McGregor (-115) vs. Michael Chandler (-105)
Aljamain Sterling (-110) vs. Henry Cejudo (-110)
Charles Oliveira (+100) vs. Beneil Dariush (-120)
Robert Whittaker (-120) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (+100)
Israel Adesanya (-155) vs. Alex Pereira II (+130)
How to bet on UFC
Depending on where you live, you likely have multiple online sportsbook options to choose from. To get the best odds, it can be advantageous to sign up at several books, as long as you can do so while gambling responsibly. This can also allow you to claim various sign-up bonuses. Once you’ve signed up and deposited money into your account, you can place bets on UFC events as odds become available. Keep in mind that more bets typically become available in the week leading up to the fight, especially in regard to props.
Step-by-step online UFC betting guide
- Choose a sportsbook that’s available where you live and sign up, but first make sure to read up on any promos that are available for new users. (For example, DraftKings is offering new customers up to $1,200 in bonus funds and bets between initial deposit matches and a bonus if you place a first bet. FanDuel is offering a “no sweat first bet” for up to $1,000 in bonus credits. More promos appear here.)
- Once you’ve created an account, select a deposit method (PayPal, ACH transfer, credit card, etc.) and add money to your account.
- Choose the event and the fight(s) you want to wager on and place your bet.
- If you want to withdraw money, go to your account and read up on your options via the sportsbook’s FAQ section. Keep in mind that, when it comes to bonus funds, most aren’t eligible to withdraw as cash until after you have used the credits in the course of one or more wagers. Rules differ from sportsbook to sportsbook, and credits typically expire if you don’t wager them within a certain time period, so be sure to read the details.
UFC betting terms
Moneyline: This is a straight bet on one fighter to win. If you place a moneyline bet on that fighter, your bet cashes if that fighter wins, regardless of method, time or round. Your payout depends on the odds and the amount of your wager.
Fight props: Prop bets (aka “propositions”) allow you to wager on specific occurrences, often at greater and therefore potentially more profitable odds. Examples of fight props might be betting on a certain fight to last for all the scheduled rounds (also known as “going the distance”), or to finish in the first minute, or even on the referee deducting a point at some point in the fight.
Round props: This allows you to bet on which round the fight will end in, or sometimes simply on whether a fight will last long enough to see the beginning of a certain round.
Winning method: These bets allow you to wager on precisely how the fight will end. They tend to broadly fall into three categories: KO/TKO/DQ, submission and decision. If the referee stops the fight due to strikes, that’s almost always a knockout (KO) or technical knockout (TKO). When a fighter taps out, either physically or verbally, while in a choke or joint lock, it’s a submission. If the fight goes the full distance and the judges decide it, that’s a decision. It’s also possible to bet on a fight ending in a draw, though this is relatively rare. You can also combine round props and winning method by betting on a fight to end in a specific round (or even a specific minute of the round) via a specific method.
Parlays: This is when you group two or more bets together, with the understanding that the parlay only wins if all of your individual picks are correct. For instance, you might bet on three different fighters on the same card to all win their bouts. Or you might bet on one fighter to win, another to win by submission and a third fight to go the distance regardless of who wins the decision. The more bets you add to a parlay, the higher the odds get and the greater the potential payout — but the risk tends to go up as well, as a single missed bet spoils the parlay.
UFC odds explained
The most common question bettors face when looking at fight odds is how to interpret the numbers they see next to each fighter’s name. A plus sign next to the number means that these are underdog odds, which means the payoff will be higher if the bet hits. If the moneyline odds on a fighter are +300, that means a bet of $100 would get you $300 (plus your original $100 back) if that fighter wins.
A minus sign indicates a favorite, which means the potential payoff will be lower. If a fighter is -300, that means a bet of $300 would get you $100 (plus your original bet back) if that fighter wins.
UFC betting FAQ
- Can I bet on the UFC?
Yes. If you’re in a state where sports gambling is legal, you can typically bet on every bout that happens in the UFC. Many sportsbooks also offer odds on other MMA promotions, such as Bellator, PFL, Dana White’s Contender Series and more.
- Where can I bet on UFC fights?
You can usually wager on UFC bouts in any state where sports betting is legal, using one of the sportsbooks that regulators have approved in that state. For a full list of legal sportsbooks available in your state, click here.
- What happens if a UFC fight ends in a draw?
It’s relatively rare for MMA bouts to end in draws, but it does happen occasionally. When it does, it usually depends on whether the sportsbook where you placed the wager offered “draw” as one of the options for the outcome. If draw was an option to bet on, as it often is at many sportsbooks, then moneyline bets on either fighter to win would both lose. If draw was not an option, the sportsbook will typically void moneyline bets on one of the fighters to win. However, a bet on the fight to go to a decision would still win, since a draw counts as a type of judges’ decision.
- What if a fight is canceled after I’ve made my bet?
Fights are sometimes scratched from the card, occasionally even on the day of the event, for a variety of reasons, most of them relating to fighter health and safety. When that happens, sportsbooks will typically void and refund single bets on that one fight. Bets on that fight as part of a parlay depend on house rules, but often the sportsbook will remove that fight alone from the parlay, and the rest will remain intact. Be sure to read the house rules for any sportsbook you use, as these can vary.
- What if the fight is a no-contest?
Fights sometimes end in a no-contest after something like an accidental foul early in the bout makes it impossible to complete. In that case, sportsbooks usually void and refund bets on the fight. Sometimes, however, fights have an announced winner and only later does a state athletic commission change it to a no-contest. In that case, house rules apply, but often sportsbooks pay out bets on the basis of the result on fight night.
- How do UFC odds work?
Odds with a plus in front of them are underdog odds, which means the payout for hitting those bets will be higher, but also perhaps less likely. If the moneyline odds on a fighter are +240, that means a $100 bet on that fighter will net you $240 if that fighter wins. Negative odds, meanwhile, indicate favorites, which means the potential payout will be smaller but oddsmakers think it has a higher chance of winning. If the moneyline is -130, that means a bet of $130 would stand to net a gain of $100 on a winning wager.
- Who’s the biggest underdog to ever win a UFC fight?
In terms of closing odds, the biggest underdog to win a UFC bout was Shana Dobson, who came in at +950 against Mariya Agapova, who was a -1400 favorite to win their bout at a UFC Fight Night event in 2020. Dobson won the fight via TKO, cashing as an almost 10-1 underdog. The biggest upset in a title fight came at UFC 69, when +850 underdog Matt Serra defeated welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre via TKO in 2007.
- How often do favorites win in the UFC?
Not all fights have a favorite and an underdog. Some fights are “pick ’ems,” with the odds the same for both competitors. But of the 511 bouts to take place in the UFC in 2022, 486 had one favorite and one underdog. Of those, the favorite won 64.8% of the time.
- How many rounds are there in a UFC fight?
All title fights in the UFC are scheduled for five rounds of five minutes each. The fight can end at any time due to knockout, submission or disqualification, but no fights can go longer than the full five rounds. Most main events are also booked for five rounds of five minutes each, but occasionally last-minute changes to the card or bout order can affect this. All other fights are scheduled for three rounds of five minutes each and will have gone the distance if they complete all scheduled rounds and are decided by the judges’ scorecards.
Recent UFC events
UFC 286 recap
In a main-event upset, welterweight champion Leon Edwards retained his title with a majority decision win over Kamaru Usman in London. Though he won a knockout victory in the second meeting, Edwards was nonetheless a 2-1 underdog in the rubber match with Usman, but he surprised many observers by outpointing Usman over the course of five rounds. In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje pulled off another upset by beating Rafael Fiziev via majority decision in a closely contested three-round lightweight fight.
UFC 285 recap
Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones returned after three years out of the cage to easily defeat Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title in the main event. After a brief feeling-out period, Jones moved to the clinch and tripped Gane to the mat, then quickly advanced to mount against the cage before locking up a guillotine choke submission just 2:04 into the first round. Jones had opened as an underdog and closed as a modest favorite in the bout, the first time since 2009 he wasn’t the immediate and overwhelming favorite in a UFC fight.
In the co-main event, Alexa Grasso pulled off a major upset by defeating longtime women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko via submission at the 4:34 mark of Round 4. Shevchenko had been controlling most of the fight with her wrestling and top control, but after a spinning kick attempt missed its mark, Grasso closed the distance and took her back, locking in a rear-naked choke that put the squeeze across Shevchenko’s jaw and eventually forced her to tap. Grasso was a massive underdog in the fight, closing as high as +750 before she ultimately ended Shevchenko’s nine-fight winning streak at flyweight.
UFC 284 recap
The main event of UFC 284 saw featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski move up a division to challenge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a rare champ-vs.-champ superfight with the lightweight title on the line. Volkanovski came in as a 3-1 underdog but acquitted himself well over the course of five grueling rounds before ultimately losing a very close unanimous decision to Makhachev, who retained his title in a much tougher fight than many expected after he closed as a -350 favorite.
In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez won the interim featherweight title via submission after locking on a triangle choke against Josh Emmett in the second round. Rodriguez closed as a -190 favorite in the bout, but the +160 underdog Emmett rocked him with several hard shots in the first round before getting caught in the choke following a successful takedown.
UFC 283 recap
In a fight for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title, Jamahal Hill battered former champion Glover Teixeira en route to a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Hill came in as a modest -140 favorite but easily dismantled the +120 underdog Teixeira, who announced his retirement in the cage after the fight, calling it quits at the age of 43.
In the co-main event, UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno sealed his rivalry with former champion Deiveson Figueiredo, winning via doctor stoppage TKO after breaking Figueiredo’s orbital bone with a punch, closing his right eye completely and prompting the doctor to call the fight off after the third round. Moreno opened as a very slight favorite and closed at even money on some sportsbooks.