The betting odds grow larger with UFC’s acquisition of Strikeforce

The UFC recently announced the acquisition of their top competitor, Strikeforce MMA.
UFC president, Dana White has continued to grow his company beyond expectations. The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has been the fastest growing sport of all time. With any great start up there is bound to be fan worthy hobbies built around it.  Take for example online betting.  Out of the explosion of the UFC came a new breed of sports gamblers. One online casino reported a 30% increase in sports book betting in 2010 that was largely due to interest in mixed martial arts.

“For the last Brock Lesnar fight we saw a significant increase in last minute bets”, one Vegas insider said.

While not all fighters share the same fan popularity as Lesnar, many die hard betters are also placing wagers on more unknown prospects to take advantage of large point spreads. While the betting game has changed it hasn’t done so to take away from brick and mortar casinos.  During our last visit to the MGM grand we noticed the floor was packed with people watching UFC 126 on the big screens.

And let’s not forget about boxing. While wagers may be down slightly, “big fights like Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley are drawing in a lot of money .” one boxing news site said.