Who is the greatest heavyweight in Ultimate Fighting Championship history? There is a strong case that the title should belong to Ohio native Stipe Miocic.
Miocic has held the UFC heavyweight title on two separate occasions and defended it in fights four times. The six total heavyweight title wins and three successful title defenses in a row are both UFC records. In addition he has won Fight of the Night three times, Performance of the Night five times and Knockout of the Night once, for a total of nine fight-night bonus awards. That too is a UFC heavyweight record.
All told he has compiled a record of 20-4 and is still the second ranked challenger at the age of 40. His last bout was in March 2021 when he lost his title to Francis Ngannou via a second round knockout. It is unclear whether he will fight again in UFC or move over to a rival fighting circuit. There are rumors of a bout coming up versus Jon “Bones” Jones, spread partly by Jones himself, but so far no fight has materialized.
Despite all his achievements, Miocic does not quite get the acclaim as all sorts of less accomplished UFC fighters. That is quite possibly because he is not as “colorful” as many other UFC fighters. No smashed sports cars and bar brawls litter his past. Rather he spends his time outside the ring working as a part-time firefighter and paramedic near his home in Ohio. He does not get into viral tweet wars and the like. Unfortunately that all translates to good but not great ratings on his pay-per-view fights.
Ohioans can now wager on their native son should he return to the Octagon either with the UFC or a rival fight league. Be sure to take advantage of the top Ohio sportsbook promo codes. The sportsbooks typically offer two types of generous welcome bonuses for new customers.
One is a first bet free bet insurance offer. Just sign up, deposit funds and place a wager. If the bet hits, collect the winnings! If the bet loses, the sportsbook replenishes your account with free bets up to the amount lost in the first bet, usually up to a maximum of $1000. They may include time limits on when to use the free bets and possibly allot the free bets in tranches rather than all at once.
The other typical offer is a bit simpler. Just sign up, deposit as little as $10 and wager as little as $1 and the sportsbook credits your account with $200 in free bets. The dollar value of this is a bit lower but it is much easier and does not require a large deposit to fully benefit.
It is unfortunate that sports betting legalization did come to Ohio while Miocic was dominating the UFC heavyweight field as he would have surely benefitted his backers. Here are the types of bets the sportsbooks post on MMA and other combat sports such as boxing.
Moneylines
This is the most popular way to wager on combat sports. Just pick the winner of the fight. In the hypothetical Miocic vs Jones fight, maybe the money line looks like this.
Miocic -145 vs Jones +125
Miocic bettors would need to risk $145 to win $100, while Jones backers take home $125 on a $100 bet if he triumphs. MMA fights can end in draws but rarely do, thus the books default to two-way lines. If in fact a fight does draw, the two-way line wager voids and bettors get their money back.
Total Rounds
These markets tend to show up closer to the fight itself. It is just a wager on the length of the fight. MMA bouts are typically scheduled as either three or five rounds of five minutes each. For example, say Miocic vs Jones is slated for three rounds. The Total Rounds bet is maybe as follows.
Over 2.5 -135, Under 2.5 +115
If the fight goes past the 2:30 mark of the third round, the Over players win. Anything less and the Unders cash.
Round Betting
These are combined odds on both when the fight ended, and who won the fight. The books post these relatively close to the fight itself. Here is hypothetical Round Betting on Miocic vs Jones
- Jones to win in Round 1 +700
- Jones to win in Round 2 +900
- Jones to win in Round 3 +1500
- Miocic to win in Round 1 +575
- Miocic to win in Round 2 +850
- Miocic to win in Round 3 +1350
A fight ending between rounds is ruled to have finished at the end of the last round completed as far as wagering goes. If Jones does not answer the bell for the start of the third round e.g., the “Miocic to win in Round 2” bet would cash.
Method of Victory
This is really a two part parlay type bet of who won the fight combined with how the fight ended. For theoretical example in Miocic vs Jones
- Jones by Knockout(KO)/Technical Knockout (TKO) +400
- Jones by Submission +1500
- Jones by Points +250
- Draw +6600
- Miocic by KO/TKO +800
- Miocic by Submission +500
- Miocic by Points +200
Books also post odds that merge pairs of these, for example “Miocic to win by Submission or Points” at +115.
Props
MMA prop markets vary wildly from book to book, much like in other sports. Common UFC props include odds on how the fight will end, when it will end, round and method combos et. al. As in every other prop market, the markets will show up late and the limits will stay on the low side.
Miocic has not retired, so Buckeye state residents will get to wager on his future bouts. When and where they will occur are unknown as of now. His bettors would have surely made some nice cash backing him in his decade of excellence in the Octagon.