PFL betting is highly underrated. Underrated because the UFC betting sucks up most of the attention in MMA fighting, but also underrated because the PFL bet opportunities are good if you know what you’re doing. This guide is designed for the latter — so you know how to bet on PFL to the best of your abilities. By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll have betting on PFL on lock!
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PFL Fight Odds
| Fighter |  |
|
Fighter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis Ngannou | -380 | +300 | Renan Ferreira |
| Taila Santos | -230 | +190 | Liz Carmouche |
| Denis Goltsov | -395 | +310 | Timothy Johnson |
Last updated on: September 2, 2024
Upcoming PFL Fights
Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira
Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira is the most anticipated PFL fight of the year. Ngannou left the UFC as heavyweight champion in early 2022 and hasn’t fought MMA since, despite being signed to PFL. But he’s expected to debut against the PFL heavyweight champion, Ferreira. As it stands, Ngannou is a donning favorite to win the bout.
Liz Carmouche vs Taila Santos
Another high-profile bout is between women’s legends, Liz Carmouche and Taila Santos, in the flyweight semis tournament. Carmouche will forever be known for competing in the first-ever UFC women’s title match against Ronda Rousey. Eleven years later, she finds herself one win away from another title matchup in PFL. However, she’s a small underdog against Santos, who is not far removed from her own UFC championship match.
Denis Goltsov vs. Timothy Johnson
Another tournament semis matchup is Denis Goltsov vs. Timothy Johnson. This is also in the heavyweight division, with Goltsov being a massive favorite to win. Johnson has name value as a former UFC and Bellator fighter but at 39 years old now, his age is reflected in the lopsided betting line.
How To Read PFL Betting Odds
PFL betting odds aren’t as hard to read as you may first think — it’s like any other sport. But of course, if you’re new to betting as a whole, you might need a quick explanation.
Take the example fight above — Ngannou vs. Ferreira. Whatever fighter or outcome has the minus sign (-) in front of the number means that’s the favored result per the bookies. The plus sign (+) means that’s the underdog. So Ngannou at -380 means he’s the favorite and a big one at that.
We say that because -380 odds indicates it would require a $380 wager to win $100 profit (plus get back what you staked). That’s a high-risk, low-reward bet which speaks to how big Ngannou is favored.
On the flip side, Ferreira is +300 to win. At these odds, risking $100 and him winning pays out $300 in profit. See the huge difference? Ferreira is a low-risk, high-reward play.
This is just one example, but you can apply it to other PFL bets too. Almost all fights have clearly-determined favorites and underdogs EXCEPT if you see -110 lines on both fighters. This means it’s a “pick em” bet and it’s essentially a toss-up on who wins.
What Is PFL?
PFL has established itself as the second-biggest MMA fighting promotion after the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This became official in late 2023 when PFL bought out Bellator. Aside from renaming it to the Bellator International Champions Series, PFL has hardly touched their new possession. Bellator continues to operate with its own shows, but this could change in the near future.
PFL and UFC are quite different from one another, which is by design as PFL tries to separate itself in the fight game. Whereas UFC has a ranking system to somewhat determine fights, PFL goes with an opposite approach: a regular season and playoffs, as you’d expect in other sports.
Fighters compete twice in the regular season. A win earns them three points, a draw is worth one point, and a loss gets zero. There are also bonuses for finishes — three points for a first-round stoppage, two for the second round, and one if it happens in the third. Regular-season fights are fought in three-round bouts with each round five minutes.
The four highest point-getters advance to the playoffs. Here it’s a single-elimination tournament to crown the champion — No. 1 faces No. 4 based on points, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 also square off. Championship fights are five rounds (semi-finals are still three rounds) with the winners netting a $1 million prize, along with the title crown.
PFL has six different fight divisions with 10 fighters a piece. Men’s classes are at heavyweight (up to 265 pounds), light heavyweight (205), welterweight (170), lightweight (155) and featherweight (145). There’s one women’s division at the newly-created flyweight (125)— there used to be a women’s lightweight division, but that went by the wayside when Kayla Harrison left to the UFC.
This is for PFL’s flagship League Season franchise. However, PFL has other franchises — Challenger Series, PPV Super Fights, and International Leagues. The Challenger Series is built around fighters trying to qualify for the Regular Season. International Leagues are exactly as it sounds, they are smaller PFL events tied to certain continents (e.g. PFL Africa). PPV Super Fights is expected to debut in 2024, and these will act more like UFC pay-per-views that feature big-time fights. Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul are expected to compete in PPV Super Fights when it launches.
How To Bet On PFL Championship
PFL betting online is simple. Seriously, bettors often overcomplicate it when they really shouldn’t. We’re about to simplify how you bet on PFL fights:
- Pick a sportsbook: it all starts here. Later on in this guide, we’ll explain how to look for a sportsbook and even suggest a few worth looking into.
- Deposit money: sportsbook offer multiple payment options — bank wires, checks, crypto, and debit cards, among others. Choose one to fund your betting account with money to gamble with.
- Select a PFL bet: once you’re on a sportsbook, the next step is to pick out a bet. Wagers will appear once a PFL card is nearing. Your job is to find the one(s) with the most value.
- Decide how much to risk: here’s a biggie, how much money are you actually going to throw on the bet you’ve selected? $10? $100? $1000? This is for you to decide based on your budget and risk tolerance.
- Place the bet: confirm the PFL bet and risk amount on the sportsbook. Do that and now is the hard part — playing the waiting game. All you can do is wait (and maybe pray) your bet hits once fight night rolls around.
PFL Betting Types
There are multiple markets for betting PFL. Here’s the types of PFL betting lines you’re most likely to come across:
Moneyline
This is the most straightforward bet PFL of all: who’s going to win the fight? A bettor’s sole intention is to select the fight winner — that’s it! It’s a 50-50 outcome every time. It’s a simple bet but because of that, you won’t always get the best odds on these bets unless the fight is expected to be close.
Over/Under
One of the best PFL bets is the over/under on rounds fought. This wager is only concerned with how long or short a fight ends up being — regardless of who wins or loses.
Often for three-round fights, the over/under is set to 1.5 rounds. In the event a fight ends one minute into the second round, that counts as an under since the finish happened before the halfway point of the round (2:30 mark in the second round).
However, some three-round fights might have an over/under of 2.5 rounds. You’ll see this often with fighters that aren’t finishers, and the expectation is the judges will decide. By putting the over/under so late in the bout, bookies are leaving a larger window for a finish to happen.
Props
PFL prop bets are the biggest wagering market of all. Biggest because these bets can really be anything and everything.
One of the most common props is the method of victory. This wager tasks bettors with not only picking the fight winner, but selecting how they do so — knockout, submission, or decision. There are seven possible outcomes (three for each fighter and also a draw) in this prop, therefore, betting odds are more forgiving than, say, moneyline. This is one example of a prop, but believe us, there are so many more out there.
Futures
Futures is another fun way of how to bet on PFL. As the name hints, these bets focus on future outcomes — not necessarily one single PFL bout.
One of the most common PFL best bets in the futures category is picking the year-end champion. When the season starts and 10 fighters are competing for the top prize, a futures bet will have odds for each to win out the season. Bettors simply picking the one person that’ll go on to win from the get-go. Your money will be tied up until the end (or worse, you lose), but futures bets have big payday potential because of how many options are available.
Our Top PFL Strategy To Win
Here’s the million-dollar question: what are PFL betting tips to actually win? Theres a few “golden rules” we like to follow from bet to bet. We’ll be sharing them below so you can hit more PFL betting predictions than you lose.
The first one is obvious but not always followed: study the matchups. What’s the phrase, “styles makes fight”? Well, they do, and they also make bets. If you have a pair of heavyweights going at it, both that are pure strikers, then the KO becomes very likely — perfect if you’re betting the over/under or exact outcome prop. That’s one easy example, but you should be doing this for every fight you have money on to guesstimate what’s most likely to happen.
Tip number two which piggybacks off the last advice: factor in recent performances above all. Sure, a heavyweight might’ve been a finisher when he was 29 and in his prime, but it’s possible he’s fallen off now at 34 years old. Judging recent performances is your “best bet” to level-set how a fighter is trending, whether that’s up or down. Fighters leave bouts different than they came in — either more broken down or possibly sharper skilled. It’s on bettors to figure out which side that is, and there’s no better gauges than recent fights.
Tip number three: shop lines across different PFL betting sites. By shop lines, we mean compare betting odds PFL. It’s possible PFL sportsbooks will differ slightly in the same bet. PFL online sportsbook A could have Jake Paul to win his debut at -160, but online sportsbook B could have Paul at -145. As a bettor, it makes sense to wager at option B to get better odds, thus a better payout. Maximizing value can be just as important as picking winners.
How To Choose The Best PFL Sportsbook For You
One of the most common questions we get is what’s the best PFL sportsbook? The answer is, well, it depends. It depends on what a specific bettor values most — amount of betting options, bonuses, mobile app, and so on. One PFL online sportsbook might shine more in one area, thus it makes sense going with that site. So that’s the first thing you should know: what do you care most about as a bettor?
Bettors that care about free bets should look into a sportsbook’s bonuses, first and foremost. Do they offer a huge sign-up bonus? What about a great reload program for repeating betting? Heck, maybe a loyalty program? These are the things you should be evaluating to know how much free-play potential there is under the surface.
Of course, betting options should be another sticking point when selecting the best PFL betting site. Bonuses don’t matter all that much if a sportsbook doesn’t offer the bets you actually want. Since PFL still flies under the radar (certainly compared to UFC), some sportsbooks completely neglect it — obviously not ideal if wanting to wager on PFL.
Another important factor should probably be mobile betting experience. More and more bettors are using their phones to bet on PFL and other sports on the go. While many sportsbooks recognize this and have built killer apps, a few others are still behind the curve. So if you value the ability to bet whenever and wherever from your phone, you’ll want to evaluate app features.
Betting options, bonuses, and mobile app are three of the biggest differentiators between sportsbooks, but of course, there’s more — payment options or customer service, for example. Only you know what you care most about. Identify that, then find the betting sites that best offers it. Voila, you’ve found a sportsbook tailor-made for you!
Best PFL Betting Sites 2024
We get it, picking the bet PFL sportsbooks is hard, especially when there are so many options out there. That’s why we’ve done the dirty work and picked out where to bet on PFL fights. A top-5 list chosen after meticulous thought.
All five selections are offshore sportsbooks, meaning these will work no matter where you are — even in locations where sports betting is banned (e.g. California or Texas). Since they’re offshore, these sites don’t have to abide by the rules of a particular state or country. It’s a more free experience, which matters big time. With that said, here’s who made our top-5 cut:
Bovada
Bovada was an easy choice on this list. Why? Because they are one of the leading offshore sportsbooks — and have been for a decade now. That doesn’t just happen by chance. No, it’s a byproduct of offering a good playing experience top to bottom.
Most of all, Bovada stands out for its straightforward experience. It’s all about betting, and not much else. No gimmicks. No useless features. Just betting injected right into your veins.
BetUS
BetUS ends up on this short list for one major reason: bonuses. No one — and we mean no one — offers more free play than BetUS. We mean, the sign-up bonus alone is worth more than $3000 in free play. Money like that is hard to come by elsewhere.
Just imagine all the free PFL bets you can make with that type of money too? Bettors can’t go wrong with free PFL betting picks, especially given how unpredictable fighting can be.
BetOnline
Bet on PFL fights hardly gets better than BetOnline. That’s because this bookmaker might have the deepest selection of sports odds around. This applies to PFL and just about any other sports league too. You’ll be hard-pressed to NOT find the wager you’re looking for.
Think of BetOnline as a one-stop shop for all things betting. This matters because bettors could realistically use BetOnline and BetOnline only to do all their betting — no need to fumble around between two or three different sites. That’s a convenience factor that comes in clutch over the long haul.
XBet
Mobile-savvy bettors should look into XBet. That’s because this betting app leads the way in mobile experience. For starters, the app is slick and modern — a far cry from other platforms that look (and feel) dated. Furthermore, the app performs well. Gliding around the app, jumping from feature to feature, and lag is nowhere to be found. Nowhere!
XBet’s live betting system is also a stand-out feature. However, it’s not available for PFL fights in our experience. This could change though as PFL earns more and more betting interest, thus increasing the demand for in-play odds.
BetNow
Last but not least is BetNow. Rarely in this industry do we get surprised. However, BetNow offering a sportsbook rebate is the exception. As far as we can tell, BetNow is the only site with a refund program on sports losses, a game-changer.
BetNow’s promotions as a whole are noteworthy. They offer an abundance of promo options — four sign-up bonuses, three reload deals, and another three rebate programs. This is far more than your typical sportsbook.
Why We Recommend These Sportsbooks
The five best PFL betting sites were carefully chosen. We used strict criteria to separate the best from the pack. All sportsbooks were graded on the following qualities:
- Betting options: not only did we factor in the amount of bets offered, but also the quality of the bets. By that, we mean the betting prices offered. You want a double-whammy of both.
- Customer service: this is a sticking point for evaluating any business, whether it’s betting or something else. We made sure to hand-pick bookmakers that can be counted on to assist players when they need it most.
- Promotional bonuses: free betting is never a bad thing, especially when it brings down the risks associated with gambling. That’s why we weighed promotions heavily when selecting our top-5 list.
- Trust factor: this one’s obvious, isn’t it? No one wants to play at a site that’s sketchy — either not paying out or falsely promising things. Any site that raised eyebrows was immediately disqualified from making our list.
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