Sports fans from all around the world watch UFC fights on a regular basis, while a considerable number of them also make MMA wagers on a regular basis. This includes Canadians as well, who has been passionate about UFC betting for years.
The probable reason behind this is the success Canada’s best MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre had in the UFC. Even though their favorite fighter is no longer competing, Canada’s passion for this sport hasn’t ended.
If you’re still in love with MMA, you can take it a step further by placing some bets. The big question is where to do it?
There are plenty of online sportsbooks that cover MMA events, but not all of them are good enough for Canadian bettors. This is why we’ve decided to pick out a couple of them that fulfill all the criteria necessary to be called the best.
Best UFC Sportsbooks for Canadian Players
| Betting site | Bonus | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Up to $200 in Bet Credits - use code TOP100 Min deposit $5. Bet Credits available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. | Claim offer |
| 2 |  | 100% up to $200 T&Cs apply. 18+. Betway review. | Claim offer |
| 3 |  | 100% up to $100 T&Cs apply. 18+. Unibet review. | Claim offer |
| 4 |  | 100% up to $250 T&Cs apply. 18+. 888sport review. | Claim offer |
| 5 |  | Low margins, high odds | Claim offer |
MMA Betting in a Nutshell
The MMA (mixed martial arts) is one of the fastest-growing sports on the planet, mostly thanks to the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), which is the world’s most popular promotion. You can be certain that all the online sportsbooks from our list will cover UFC events on a regular basis.
Apart from the UFC, these sportsbooks also cover many other MMA promotions, including Bellator, Cage Warriors, ONE Championship, and so on.
Not only do these online sportsbooks have a huge selection of fights, but Canadian bettors also have a large choice of MMA wagers before them. If you’re wondering which types of bets we’re talking about, we’re now going to discuss some of the most popular wagers in MMA betting.
Moneyline Betting
Moneyline betting is the leading market in the world of MMA betting. How it works is that you need to choose between two fighters and pick the one you think is going to win. It is really simple, if they win you win, if they lose you lose too.
Win by Knockout
The fact is that most fighters try to defeat their opponents by a knockout. This is the most spectacular method of victory, as well as one of the most popular betting choices.
However, keep in mind that there are two types of knockouts. The first one is the regular knockout or KO; the other is the technical knockout or TKO.
KO refers to the situation when a fighter is knocked out and cannot get up before the count of ten. TKO is called by either the referee or the fighter’s team. It happens in the situation when a fighter is severely injured, thus unable to continue the fight.
Win by Submission
Win by submission is getting more and more popular among bettors. One reason behind this is the emergence of Khabib Nurmagomedov, a legendary Russian fighter famous for winning most of his fights with spectacular submissions.
Win by Decision
When the fight ends and no one is lying on the floor, it’s not easy to decide who will win the match. If such a thing happens, it is up to three judges to decide the outcome of the fight. Each of the three judges has to score the fighters, after which they proclaim the winner.
Three different options can arise from the voting. The first one is a Unanimous Decision, which happens when one of the fighters is declared the winner by all the judges. Split-Decision happens when two judges choose one fighter as the winner. Yet, the third judge goes for the other one. Finally, Majority Decision happens when two judges score one fighter, while the third judge declares a draw.
What’s great is that there are some Canada-friendly online sportsbooks that let you bet on each of the three decision types. The best thing is that the betting odds on those markets are usually pretty attractive.
Round Betting
An average MMA fight usually consists of three to five rounds, with one round lasting up to five minutes. If you think that both fighters have the endurance to go through all the rounds, you should put your money on “match to go the distance.”
Yet, if you think it will end earlier, you can bet on the total number of rounds. With most sportsbooks, predicting a specific number of rounds is just one of the options. However, most of them also let you bet on the “Total Rounds Over/Under” market.
Major MMA Events
The MMA universe is expanding constantly, with dozens of new promotions emerging every year. You can attend or watch streamed fights from all around the world. Yet, when it comes to MMA betting, most of the sportsbooks cover only the biggest, most popular promotions. Here are some of them!
The absolute favorite among the bettors is the UFC. It is the best that MMA has to offer, with the world’s elite fighters being pitted against each other.
Bellator is just behind the UFC as the second most popular MMA competition. You can think of it as the second-tier competition, whose most successful fighters almost always end up in the UFC. Then, there’s also ONE Championship, a promotion based in Asia.
Cage Warriors is another promotion with a bright future ahead. Based in the UK, the promotion has been serving as a stepping stone for many fighters on their road to more popular promotions. One of the MMA legends who took this path is Connor McGregor.
A Brief History of MMA
Mixed martial arts or better known as MMA is one of the oldest sports in human history. Humans have been fighting each other for thousands of years. Some were defending their territory, their spouses, and some were defending their honor. Apart from those reasons, fighting for other peoples’ entertainment was present too.
The ancient Greeks were the first ones who established the rules when it comes to fighting. From that moment, a new sport emerged. The sport in question is pankration, which is considered the predecessor of today’s mixed martial arts.
Pankration was one of the most famous sports in those days, as evident from the fact that it was a regular feature at the Ancient Olympics. The same isn’t the case with the modern Olympics. In fact, at the first modern Olympic Games in 1894, the organizers decided to leave out this sport. The reason for that was that it was considered too brutal.
Almost exactly one hundred years later, the new dawn started for this sport. It was 1993 when the UFC was born.
Best Canadian MMA Fighters
It’s all about Georges St-Pierre when Canadian MMA is concerned. This guy is an absolute legend of the sport, with a career record of 26-2. In his UFC years, the Quebec native held two divisional titles at one point – the welterweight and middleweight.
Often called the MMA GOAT, St-Pierre spent more than 13 years fighting under the banner of the UFC. Knowing that they had such an elite fighter for so long, it’s no surprise that Canadians became obsessed with this sport.
They love to watch it, bet on it, and even compete in MMA events. In fact, even with St-Pierre returning, the world of MMA is still pretty much thriving in Canada. There are some talented fighters emerging all the time, some of whom seem ready to join the elite ranks in the near future.