1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: The Action Network podcast. 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:04,360 Speaker 2: Are You going to place a bet? 3 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Doll? 4 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 2: Walk? 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Action Network Podcast, presented by FanDuel. This 6 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: is our experts guide to betting series UFC. Addition, I'm 7 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: your host Maria Marino, joined by two UFC betting experts 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: here at Action Network, predictive analyst and former fighter Billy Ward, 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: as well as our Projection's Kingpin, Sean Zaillo. Sean and 10 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: Billy can also be heard every Friday breaking down fight 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: cards on our UFC betting preview episodes right here on 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: the Action Network Podcast. Billy, I'm going to start with 13 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: you here. I want to find out the expertise of 14 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: both of you and what makes you qualified to bet UFC. 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: But because you are a former MMA fighter, can you 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: tell us a little bit about your background and how 17 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: you got into that. 18 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, fairly typical athletic background. As a kid, 19 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 3: I've led basketball, football, Baseball. Basketball was my big thing, 20 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 3: but I realized that wasn't going to continue on into 21 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 3: adulthood or college. Didn't for a lot of reasons, and 22 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 3: my senior year of high school, just found a local 23 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,839 Speaker 3: MMA gym and started training there. Took a few amateur fights. 24 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 3: It kind of started out as something I just wanted 25 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 3: to try, and then it went fairly well, and you 26 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 3: just kind of keep doing it. Next thing, you know, 27 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 3: you're signing a professional fight in two, three, four, and. 28 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 2: Here you are. 29 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: Next thing, you know, I feel like that's not the 30 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: experience of most people, but we'll take it. And then 31 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: how did you sort of cross over into the betting space? 32 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean anytime you're out at the bar with 33 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 3: your buddies watching fights, or you know, sitting in the 34 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 3: audience of some local fights, we're always betting on who 35 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 3: we think is going to win, even if it's just 36 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 3: a dollar with your friend, based on the walkouts. 37 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 2: And then what actually got me into it. 38 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 3: Especially as dfs became so big, is once they offered 39 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 3: UFC dfs, I thought that would be somewhere I had 40 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 3: a big edge. 41 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 2: I already always played. 42 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 3: Fantasy football and fantasy sports, but obviously having the fighter background, 43 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 3: I thought that would be more my lane. And then 44 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 3: here in Michigan, we got legalized sports betting in twenty 45 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 3: twenty one, and that's when it. 46 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: Really took off for me. 47 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 3: I've been basically betting almost every UFC card ever since. 48 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: Sean we know you're also an expert in MLB had 49 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: you on that Experts Guide to Betting podcasts. But tell 50 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: us about the UFC side of things for you. 51 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, I became a fan of MMA and the UFC 52 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 4: after the Ultimate Fighter one. I pretty much watched that 53 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 4: whole season. They're now at season thirty, which seems crazy 54 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 4: to say, but you know, Forrest griff and Stephan Bonner. 55 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 4: That original fight still one of my favorite fights ever 56 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 4: and something that will stick in my memory forever. But 57 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 4: sort of fell away from the sport for a little bit. 58 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:47,360 Speaker 4: Came back to it, you know, as I got older, 59 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 4: and then really took it much more seriously once the 60 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,399 Speaker 4: pandemic hit and the UFC was the first sport back 61 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 4: going other than horse racing, but in terms of wanting 62 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 4: to bet on it and betting on it more seriously 63 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 4: other than just having casually bet on it previously. I 64 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 4: wanted to figure out a way if we could quantify 65 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 4: something that seems completely unquantifiable because with all of the 66 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 4: predictive data that we have for being able to quantify 67 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 4: a sport like baseball or even you know, sports like 68 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 4: football or basketball. The idea that you could quantify something 69 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 4: where two people are punching each other in the face 70 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 4: or trying to snap the limbs off of one or another. 71 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 4: Seemed like it might be a challenge for me, and I, 72 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 4: you know, I developed a process to try to take 73 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 4: publicly available predictive data, so data that fans of the 74 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 4: sport are putting in, but starting with the hypothesis or 75 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 4: assumption that the public is generally wrong, going against the public, 76 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 4: and going against those public assumptions. And you know, the 77 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 4: more that I've repeated this process, it actually is fairly 78 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 4: easy to see for me when it's going to be 79 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 4: the public is heavily on an underdog or heavily on 80 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 4: a favorite, and it's very apparent that I'm going to 81 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 4: be on the other side. But sort of, you know, 82 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 4: kept the other than one alteration, have kept a pretty 83 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 4: consistent process Since June twenty twenty, which is when bet 84 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 4: tracking came for UFC into the Action Network gap, I've 85 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 4: returned a forty five percent win rate and a three 86 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 4: three point three point three percent ROI in the action 87 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 4: app across more than a thousand bets, so a decent 88 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 4: sample of bets, a ton of which have been a 89 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 4: plus money, A lot of props things like that. But 90 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 4: you know, I basically just assume that all of these 91 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 4: fights beyond the squash matches are closer to fifty to 92 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 4: fifty and betting on a lot of underdogs is paid off. 93 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 4: So it's been fun to, you know, introduce math into 94 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 4: something that I think is very hard to quantify and 95 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 4: see it pay off over you know, a decent sample 96 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 4: of bets. 97 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 3: And before we jump on, just to piggyback what Sean 98 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 3: said a little bit, I have a math degree as well, 99 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 3: and before talking to him and doing this podcast, I 100 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 3: would have said, this is probably an impossible sport to 101 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 3: quantify or use data to be just knowing what I 102 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 3: knew about the two things. So having that, having that 103 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 3: example that he's set of a way to take a 104 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 3: data driven approach, and then being able to blend in 105 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 3: what I know about the sport and the fighting itself 106 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 3: is I think a good mix for both of us. 107 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 3: And I just can't say how impressed I am by quantifying, 108 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 3: as he put it, two people punching each other in 109 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 3: the face a lot of hard. You know, I do 110 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 3: some baseball stuff too, and that is it's pure numbers. 111 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 3: You don't need to know how the sport works. So 112 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 3: it's just such an extreme difference between the approach to 113 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 3: those two things, and I think we got a really good. 114 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 2: Combination here of how we've been able to blend those skills. 115 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I talk a lot on the MLB 116 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 4: podcast about blending scouting and data analysis, and again, like 117 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 4: didn't think it was something that would be possible for MMA, 118 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 4: a sport which seems like it should be ninety nine 119 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 4: percent scouting. But even if baseball is eighty twenty data 120 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 4: analysis and scouting, we can make MMA, you know, eighty 121 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 4: twenty scouting and data analysis. I think that's enough to 122 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 4: maybe fine edge. 123 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 3: And before doing this, the closest I had come to 124 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 3: experiencing anything like that. There's a book called fight Nomics, 125 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 3: and it's really just trend right. So it's the age 126 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 3: gap stat that you know, Sean likes to quote all 127 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 3: the time, or the shorter height. 128 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 2: But longer reach that I quote. 129 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 3: That book did a lot of that kind of stuff, 130 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 3: but it's not projecting out as we go forward. 131 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 2: So Sean definitely took it to the next level. 132 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,679 Speaker 3: Hopefully you can steal the name and write fight Nomics 133 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 3: two at some point anyone who wants to read it. 134 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: All right, Well, I'm already in awe of both of you. 135 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: But let's talk about any regular listener out there, casual 136 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: fan of UFC, if they were to attempt to become 137 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: good at betting this sport, where would you tell them 138 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: to start? 139 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 3: Billy, Yeah, you know, I've I've read a lot of 140 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 3: stuff and especially in the DFS and betting space that 141 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 3: they say it's almost detrimental to watch the games if 142 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 3: it's you know, football, basketball or whatever, because our brains 143 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 3: are so bad at processing that small sample sized information. 144 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 3: And I would say the UFC is the total opposite. 145 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 3: This is probably the one sport that just by regularly 146 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 3: watching it for a little while, you'll probably pick up 147 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 3: on some stuff that the market is missing. You'll probably 148 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 3: notice some trends or notice some patterns. You know, you 149 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 3: get to know the fight teams and the coaches and 150 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 3: all those kind of things. That's the biggest one, I think, 151 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 3: for especially like the not hardcore fan who's not already 152 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 3: doing that, And then for the hardcore fan, I think 153 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 3: it's really just familiarizing yourself with all the ways that 154 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 3: there are to bet on the UFC, because it's not 155 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 3: just pick who's going to win, or you know, just 156 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 3: pick the time. There's times and methods, and we're getting 157 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 3: more and more props. 158 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 2: Of all different types. 159 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 3: So if you're already a hardcore fan and you might 160 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 3: say to your buddy, like, man, someone's getting knocked out 161 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 3: in this one. 162 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 2: I don't know who it is, you can bet on that. 163 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 2: You don't have to know who it is. That's an option. 164 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 2: So that's the big thing. 165 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 3: I think when I talk to my fight fan friends 166 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 3: who aren't really gamblers, it's like pretty much any opinion 167 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 3: you have you can bet on, and if you're going 168 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 3: to be fairly sharp with that, which I think some 169 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 3: of them are, just realizing what's out there on the 170 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 3: menu is the big thing for the hardcore fan. 171 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 4: I think Billy hit the nail on the head with 172 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 4: the fact that the more you watch fights, the better 173 00:07:58,120 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 4: you're going to get at it. And I don't think 174 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 4: watch a lot of baseball or watching a lot of 175 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 4: football is necessarily going to make you better at betting 176 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 4: on those sports. But watching a lot of MMA has 177 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 4: really helped me. It's the familiarity with all of the camps, 178 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 4: all of the coaches, knowing which camps are more likely 179 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 4: to help their fighters improve and keeping notes not only 180 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 4: before fights but also after the fights as to what 181 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 4: your impressions were of their strengths or weaknesses. But I 182 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 4: really think it is much more of a video driven, 183 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 4: tape driven, scouting driven type of analysis. That's why I've 184 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 4: taken a different approaches, because that's all anyone is able 185 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 4: to do is watch the table. 186 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 3: When you're watching the NFL, your team is playing next 187 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 3: week or two weeks later at most, and if you're 188 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 3: watching baseball, it's tomorrow. These guys might be four or five, 189 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 3: six months, even over a year with some of them. 190 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 3: And I need to be better about that because Sean, 191 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:53,839 Speaker 3: you've reminded me of stuff of some guy that hasn't 192 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 3: fought in fourteen months. Oh yeah, I did have that impression. 193 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 3: So doing that and then organizing it in the way 194 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 3: that you can find it the next time they fight, 195 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,079 Speaker 3: which is who knows, right, We don't know when the next. 196 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 2: One's going to be. 197 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:06,839 Speaker 3: I think it's much more crucial than a sport where 198 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 3: you're seeing the same teams and the same players. 199 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 2: Every week or two at most. You don't have to 200 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 2: bet while you're doing all this. 201 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 3: By the way, like you should be doing all of 202 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 3: the things we said before you make your first serious bet. 203 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 3: If you want a bout a dollar or whatever just 204 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 3: for your own tracking purposes, that's one thing. But you 205 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 3: get yourself familiar and get comfortable with it and with 206 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 3: some of the pillars, like we're going to talk about right. 207 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: It's like before you take an exam, you have to 208 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: have a way to review. So to be able to 209 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: go back and look at those notes when there's been 210 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: so much time that has passed from fight to fight 211 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: has got to be helpful. What other rules or just 212 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: basic pillars would you recommend? We know, Billy, I. 213 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 3: Think the biggest thing, at least for me, is that 214 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 3: so much of the game is figuring out improvements or 215 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 3: declines in a fighter's skill set, partially because of that 216 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 3: gap that we're. 217 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 2: Talking about and how frequently they compete. 218 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 3: So you know, it's not just age does a good 219 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 3: job and a lot of our podcasts of pointing out 220 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 3: trends where heavier fighters can age a little bit better 221 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 3: than lighter fighters based on their weight class, or you know, 222 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 3: fighters who are really good athletes coming over from another 223 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 3: combat sport, but less time in the game, they probably 224 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 3: have a higher ceiling than they're going to continue to 225 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 3: improve in a way that a guy who's been just 226 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 3: an MMA fighter for ten years isn't, even if that 227 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 3: person's younger. So just understanding that we're trying to figure 228 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 3: out not how good they have been, but how good 229 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 3: they will be, and that varies a lot more than 230 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 3: it does in other sports. And then there's some of 231 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 3: the obvious ones we talk about that aren't really they're 232 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 3: not rules in the strictest sense of the word, but 233 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 3: usual trends we don't looked about on retiring fighters, even 234 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 3: though sen just hit a big one on a retiring. 235 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 2: Fighter last week. 236 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 3: Always bet Cardio is the other one I referenced earlier, 237 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 3: shorter fighters with longer reach. Just the more of those 238 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 3: you can have in your brain and then also knowing 239 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,079 Speaker 3: how to calibrate that right, because none of those are 240 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,560 Speaker 3: one hundred percent accurate. You're never going to get that 241 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 3: every time. But the more of those you can weigh 242 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 3: in versus what you see on the video and in 243 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 3: your note, just the more success you're going to have. 244 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: Sean, what would you say is uniquely challenging about betting UFC. 245 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,839 Speaker 4: I think it's the sport where recency bias is the strongest, 246 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 4: and you really can't. It's very difficult to judge classes, 247 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 4: class levels of fighters relative to one another. Frankly, and 248 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 4: I don't mean this in a debating way, but the 249 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 4: closest sport I have the judge it to is horse racing, 250 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 4: where you're judging a big class jump or a big 251 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 4: class decline. You know, you may have somebody going from 252 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 4: fighting a top fifteen level fighter in their division in 253 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 4: the world, and then they lose, and then they're dropping 254 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 4: down and taking on a prospect that has never faced 255 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 4: the UFC level competition and is only face fighters on 256 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 4: the regional scene taking a big step up for the 257 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 4: first time. So judging the class of skill sets where 258 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 4: one guy is jumping down in competition one guy's jumping 259 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 4: up could be really difficult to analyze what the strengths 260 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 4: and weaknesses are. You know, you may see things on 261 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:08,719 Speaker 4: tape that you're evaluating the streaks and weaknesses, but how 262 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 4: do you evaluate that relative to drastically different types of competition. 263 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 4: So I think that can make it difficult. Obviously, styles 264 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 4: make fights. It's important to know what arc type of 265 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 4: fighter you have in front of you. You know always 266 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 4: kind of favor grappling fighters because they are able to 267 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,719 Speaker 4: look more dominant than strikers are. But the level of 268 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 4: competition thing, I think is so crucial and so difficult 269 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 4: to evaluate. And then beyond that too, it's a one 270 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 4: versus one sport, right, So if you're playing a team 271 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 4: sport hockey, you're having an off night on the ice, 272 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 4: your teammates are probably going to hide that down performance 273 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 4: to a significant degree. You know, your defense might be 274 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 4: able to play okay and sort your goalie can play 275 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 4: okay and sort of hide that you're playing poorly, turning 276 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 4: over the puck, et cetera. But if you're not doing well, 277 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 4: if you're off your game in a fight, it's going. 278 00:12:58,960 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 2: To be very apparent. 279 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 4: So sometimes you're just going to miss because the fighter 280 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 4: that you bet on isn't having the best day. And 281 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 4: I'm sure Billy can speak to that much better than 282 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 4: I can. But I'm sure going into some fights he 283 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 4: felt much differently than he did going into others. You know, 284 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 4: going for a takedown and you just don't feel like 285 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 4: it's there for you. You know, legs feel a little 286 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 4: bit rubbery or what have you. And we've seen UFC 287 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 4: fighters like Aljamaine Sterling talk about things like that where 288 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 4: just didn't feel the same as he normally did in 289 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 4: his first fight against Piotryan. So yeah, you know, it's 290 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 4: a one versus one sport, which makes it tough, but 291 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 4: it's it's the factor that you have to evaluate class 292 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 4: level from fight to fight I think makes it really difficult. 293 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, and Billy, how do you evaluate that from an 294 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: outsider looking in? And any thoughts on how handicapping UFC 295 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: is just different than traditional boxing. 296 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, and mostly Sean touched on this a little bit 297 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 3: with the styles, but we don't know what type of 298 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 3: fight these guys want to have when they go out there. 299 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 3: And I know people who are more in the weeds 300 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 3: with boxing will come out and say like, well, yeah, 301 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 3: there's different game plans in that, but it's still we're 302 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 3: kind of just punching each other in boxing, right, So, 303 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 3: if you're a UFC fighter or MMA fighter, are you 304 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 3: going to try to grapple? Is your plan to shove 305 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 3: them against the fence and hold them there and what 306 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 3: Sean and I think your strength and what your plan 307 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 3: should be. That doesn't necessarily mean that that's what you 308 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 3: think it is. And sometimes even if you or your 309 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 3: coaches think that's what it is, you might just get 310 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 3: too excited and want to throw bombs out there. So 311 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 3: I think that's one of the bigger challenges relative to 312 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 3: boxing and especially team sports, or I guess this is 313 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 3: almost similar to team sports with coaching decisions. But we 314 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 3: can think we know that fighter X has a huge 315 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 3: advantage in this area, but we don't really know if 316 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 3: they're going to use that, So we're not only evaluating 317 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 3: their athletic ability, we're evaluating the psychology behind it, whether 318 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 3: we think being in front of a home crowd is 319 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 3: going to get them too hyped up so they go 320 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 3: out there and want to have a fun fight more 321 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 3: than when that kind of stuff I think is very different, 322 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 3: partially because, as Sean pointed out, it's one on one. 323 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 2: So if the. 324 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 3: Left guard for the Eagles gets really hyped up before 325 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 3: a football game, we're not going to notice that the 326 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 3: way we would with the UFC fighter, who is the 327 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 3: whole team. 328 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: Well, as far as the things that are more concrete, 329 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: you know, the data points that you could potentially use. 330 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: What are the most important resources, Sean that are out there, 331 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: if any, to help you better predict how this type 332 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: of sport is going to go. 333 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, So you know, as I mentioned before, there are 334 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 4: publicly available data sources where people do predict fights. If 335 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 4: you go on Topology Shure Dog, that's where you'll find 336 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 4: fighters records, their record history or percentage of finishes, you know, 337 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 4: how all their fights ended. But tapology actually does have 338 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 4: a tool that allows people to predict fights, and generally speaking, 339 00:15:57,320 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 4: there's actually a pretty sufficient data sample in terms of 340 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 4: the number of predictions on those fights. Even for these 341 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 4: lower level cards like you get the UFCAPEX, there's still 342 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 4: over one thousand predictions on these fights, and it's breaking 343 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 4: it down into decisions, knockouts, and submissions for each fighter. 344 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 4: I'm mostly trying to take that predictive data on its 345 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 4: head assume to a degree that the public is wrong. 346 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 4: But that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't think those 347 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 4: percentages are invaluable to look at because I think largely speaking, 348 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 4: when you take those percentages, and you know, you take 349 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 4: a percentage of each fighter's win condition. Right, So if 350 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 4: you assume that the betting market is correct, say the 351 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 4: betting market makes the fight fifty to fifty and is 352 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 4: minus one ten on each side. Well, if you look 353 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 4: at the percentage of knockout predictions or submission predictions or 354 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 4: decision predictions for either fighter on tapology the problem, and 355 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 4: you know, multiply that percentage by the fifty two percent 356 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 4: win probability or fifty percent win probability that the betting 357 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 4: market is giving you, you can actually see roughly where 358 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 4: the prop market for each of those props should be. 359 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 4: So finding tools where people are predicting fight outcomes, I 360 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,479 Speaker 4: actually think are valuable data, more so for prop betting 361 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 4: and seeing roughly what they think the percentage chance of 362 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 4: a decision versus knockout versus submission is for either fighters. 363 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,199 Speaker 4: So comparing that data I think could be valuable. But 364 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:26,479 Speaker 4: as Billy and I talked about earlier, watching the fights 365 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 4: is going to be your best friend. So YouTube for 366 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:34,479 Speaker 4: regional fights, ESPN plus UFC Fight Pass for UFC fights 367 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 4: or UFC branded regional fights, those are all going to 368 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 4: be the things that you spend the most time with 369 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 4: is watching tape and you're you know, it's for a 370 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 4: minimal cost, you can do a pretty good job of 371 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 4: being able to access any fight that you would need. 372 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: And I guess that's more advisable than just walking down 373 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: to the neighborhood bar. That might be, you know, airing 374 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: the fight on on pay per view, probably not as 375 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: easy to really follow and pay attention. Billy, Can you 376 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: just describe an ideal betting opportunity heading into a fight? 377 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think for me it's and it relates to 378 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 3: what Sean was saying. It's a prospect that for some 379 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 3: reason or another, I feel like I have more information 380 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 3: on than the market. Could be a good thing, could 381 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 3: be a bad thing. I've been on both sides of that. 382 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 3: But and for me often it's because I either know 383 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 3: the person like I trained with them at one point 384 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 3: way back when, or their camp, or know somebody who 385 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 3: knows somebody about them that probably isn't baked into the market, 386 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 3: because at the end of the day, we're not trying 387 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 3: to predict fights. We're trying to say when we think 388 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 3: the market is wrong or when we think we're off 389 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 3: the market by x amount. And there's no better time 390 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 3: to do that with them when you have some information 391 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 3: that somebody else doesn't have. 392 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 2: So it happens. It happens less and less. 393 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 3: As I'm getting older and farther away from the game, 394 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,640 Speaker 3: But for me, there's a couple of times I knew 395 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 3: Jamal Hill, the current light high heavyweight champ, pretty well 396 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 3: in our regional days. We fought on some of the 397 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 3: same cards, and I've bet him in every one of 398 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 3: his UFC fights. We're now at the point he's the 399 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 3: UFC light heavyweight Champion. I'm not saying anything that other 400 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 3: people don't know at this point, so having those not 401 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 3: broadly applicable to most people listening to this unless you 402 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,360 Speaker 3: also fought professionally or trained. 403 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:20,880 Speaker 2: With guys who did. 404 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 3: But that is it for me as someone I just 405 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 3: know from local regional scenes and the market doesn't know 406 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 3: what I. 407 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 2: Do about him. 408 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: Understanding where you can find an edge as far as 409 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: where the market is wrong, is great because if you 410 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,239 Speaker 1: don't know who's going to win the fight, you can 411 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: at least still attack it from a prop perspective. Sean 412 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: touched on this a little bit, but what do you 413 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: make of the prop market. 414 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 3: It's interesting because I feel like we're just scratching the 415 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 3: surface with the prop market. MMA betting in general, it's 416 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 3: been huge. Sean is an expert at finding very specific bets. 417 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 3: Our friends at FanDuel have done an awesome job with 418 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 3: the split round that I really like, where if I think, 419 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 3: you know, it's going to take a long time, but 420 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:06,680 Speaker 3: I'm not trying to pick exactly what round or exactly when, 421 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 3: So it's definitely been a huge edge. I'd love to 422 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 3: see specific stat prop markets pop up the way we 423 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 3: have player props in other sports. But outside of that, 424 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 3: it's just knowing what all your options are and keeping 425 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 3: up with when they add NW ones. Because I think 426 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 3: those split rounds are fairly new. We're starting to see 427 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 3: spreads come up as an option, which is pretty new, 428 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 3: So just keeping up on all of those options and 429 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 3: trying to match them to your opinions on the fight 430 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 3: is important. 431 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 4: I think props in MMA give you sometimes more optimal 432 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 4: way to bet on fighters. Now, sometimes it could backfire 433 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 4: on you, Like at UC two ninety, I met Alexander 434 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 4: Parenttojia inside the distance and probably could have just taken 435 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 4: his money line, which I also showed an edge on 436 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,360 Speaker 4: and been happy and been profitable. But you know, sometimes 437 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 4: it can feel like you get to you Q. But 438 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 4: I think a lot of the time more of the 439 00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:00,160 Speaker 4: fighters win condition should be weighted towards a particular prop 440 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 4: than it is, and I think you can find more 441 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 4: value betting on specific winning method props or specific round 442 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,720 Speaker 4: props than you can just taking a money lineer. I 443 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 4: think there might be instances where you know it's we'll 444 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 4: talk about live betting, but where it's not worth taking 445 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 4: a fight or pre fight, where one fighter is clearly 446 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 4: worth betting pre fight because they're likely to win in 447 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 4: round one and you should just be taking their round 448 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 4: one prop as opposed to their money line, So one 449 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 4: ideal betting opportunity. I just want to back up one 450 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,479 Speaker 4: question too that Billy and I both like, and we've 451 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 4: talked about quite a bit lately, is fights that are 452 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 4: heavily favored to go to a decision, or at least 453 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 4: moderately favored to go to a decision at least i'd 454 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,360 Speaker 4: say minus two hundred or better to go to a decision. 455 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 4: When there is a very big underdog in a fight 456 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 4: that is likely to go to a decision, that is 457 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 4: more often than not an underdog that I want to back, 458 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 4: just because judging an mma is so bizarre, and when 459 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 4: fights are expected to go fifteen minutes, it means that 460 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 4: it's probably close enough that weird things might happen, or 461 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 4: that the fighter is likely enough to be competitive and 462 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 4: should not be that big of an underdog, So I 463 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 4: think that often is an ideal live betting opportunity. In 464 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 4: addition to fighters who have the grappling upside of plus money. 465 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 4: Those are two angles that I'm always going to look for, 466 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 4: So yeah, you know, prop betting, I think you can 467 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 4: just find more value sometimes than the money line, But 468 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 4: there's also a few pre fight angles that typically speaking, 469 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 4: I am looking to take underdogs on the money line. 470 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,639 Speaker 3: And to add on to Sean with the props, he 471 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 3: does a really good job of getting longer odds or 472 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 3: more specific with props. But you can play it the 473 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 3: other way too. If you think this fight's going to 474 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 3: be close, take the roundover. It might not be as 475 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 3: good of odds as someone to win in round three, 476 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 3: but you can kind of calibrate that to your risk 477 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 3: tolerance to an extent where if you want to take 478 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 3: big swings for a little bit of money, go ahead 479 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 3: and pick specific rounds. Or if you want, you know, 480 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 3: to have a better chance of winning but less payout, 481 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 3: there's ways to do that too, So it gives you 482 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 3: some optionality there with how confident you are in your 483 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 3: opinion and or how much you want to risk it. 484 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: Billy, how do you approach live betting UFC? 485 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean this is a big topic for both 486 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 3: of us, and I have to say I wasn't a 487 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 3: huge live better until Sean started convincing me that it's 488 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 3: probably the way to go in a lot of places. 489 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 3: But the biggest thing I think people need to realize 490 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 3: is it's the only sport where you don't know the 491 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 3: score right. So after every round, the judges have written 492 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 3: down who they thought won, but outside of rare instances 493 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 3: in certain states. 494 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 2: That's not public. 495 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 3: So the biggest thing if you want to start getting 496 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 3: into the live betting game is just figure out the 497 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,919 Speaker 3: judging criteria. Figure it out a little bit better than 498 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 3: the sports booksty algorithms. And we see it all the time. 499 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 3: A fight that's one to one headed into the third 500 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 3: or two to two headed into the fifth by what 501 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 3: we think as a fan and one fighter is a 502 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,800 Speaker 3: heavy underdog, so unless he was totally out of gas, 503 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 3: are about. 504 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 2: To get beat up at the end of the round. 505 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 3: That's a pretty obvious opportunity. And obviously there's some cardio stuff. 506 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 3: Sean's going to talk about that. That's his angle, but 507 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 3: just getting as good at judging fights you can, and 508 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,560 Speaker 3: not judging who you think one, but judging who you 509 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 3: think the judge is one, because those can be very 510 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 3: different and it's tricky, and that's why there's a Twitter 511 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 3: controversy every time there's a split decision, no matter. 512 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:17,360 Speaker 2: Who gets it. 513 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,880 Speaker 3: But except that who you want to have gotten around 514 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 3: isn't necessarily who the judges think did. Once you start 515 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 3: thinking like them, you'll find some opportunities that the sportsbooks miss. 516 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: Sean's what about this cardio angle? 517 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think is somebody who does not 518 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:39,720 Speaker 4: have the technical fighting knowledge that Billy has or has 519 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 4: never competed in the sport itself, because you know, I 520 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 4: played baseball growing up, so at least I have knowledge 521 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 4: of how the game of baseball works, but. 522 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 2: I've never trained in MBA. 523 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,479 Speaker 4: But one thing that I think anybody is capable of seeing, 524 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 4: even if you've never fought, is cardi And it's very 525 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,920 Speaker 4: obvious when fighters slow down late and fights, or able 526 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 4: to maintain their pace throughout a fifteen minute fight or 527 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,879 Speaker 4: twenty five minute fight. I think if you're just a 528 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 4: general sports fan, I think Cardio is very apparent. It's 529 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 4: easy to see when people slow down, and it's also 530 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 4: very noticeable when fighters slow down when the pace hasn't 531 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 4: been particularly high in a fight. And that's the fighters 532 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 4: that I really want to bet against. There the ones 533 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 4: who are in sort of moderately paced fights and they're 534 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 4: slowing down regardless. And oftentimes those fighters tend to be 535 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 4: fighters who finish their opponents in round one. So those 536 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,639 Speaker 4: fighters are the perfect ARC type to bet against. After 537 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 4: the first round, you're avoiding the danger of them potentially 538 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 4: beating you on a money line in round one, and 539 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 4: then you're betting your fighter after they've likely lost the 540 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 4: first round at a better price than you're getting pre fight, 541 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 4: as they're coming into their likelier win condition. I've been 542 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 4: giving out live bets pre fight on UFC for i'd 543 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 4: say over two years now. I need to go back 544 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 4: and track what my actual win rate is, but I 545 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 4: would guarantee you it's around sixty six percent, and most 546 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 4: of it is at plus money. Cardio is the king 547 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 4: of betting MMA. I'm always going to bet on the 548 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 4: fighter with better Cardio unless the skill discrepancy is extreme. Elsewhere, 549 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 4: I think it's the biggest edge in sports, and open 550 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,919 Speaker 4: scoring would destroy that because, as Billy said, it's the 551 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 4: one fight, or it's the one sport where we do 552 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 4: not know and the fighters do not know what the 553 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 4: score is, but most importantly, the sportsbooks also don't know 554 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 4: what the score is. So sometimes after round one if 555 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 4: it's close, or raft around two if the fight has 556 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 4: been close, you can get plus money on one side 557 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 4: on one fighter and plus money on the other side 558 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 4: on the other fighter, and it's an easy arbitrage opportunity. 559 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 4: Generally not something I even do, but if that is 560 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 4: how you want to bet it, that is available too. 561 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 3: But to all of that, it is also the sport 562 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,639 Speaker 3: where you probably have the least time to make a 563 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 3: life bet, right, So there's no halftime, there's no quarterbreak. 564 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 3: You've got a minute. Frequently, and we've talked about this 565 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 3: on the podcast too, we'll be trying to listen to 566 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 3: what the corner men are saying before we even make 567 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 3: the better look at the guy's body image in the corner, 568 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 3: and that eats up thirty seconds to that. 569 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 2: So it really helps to go in with a plan. 570 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 3: If we know we've got a guy who's got huge 571 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 3: power and he swings for the fences, he's probably going 572 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 3: to be the one who gets tired. So if he 573 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 3: lands a couple of those shots but doesn't finish his opponent, 574 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 3: you need to come in with a plan, not try 575 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 3: to read and react as it goes, because you really 576 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,119 Speaker 3: only have a minute. And while the books leave the 577 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 3: lines up during the rounds, I am really hesitant about 578 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,680 Speaker 3: those just because of the lag that we know happens 579 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 3: with what we're seeing on TV, with what really happens. 580 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 3: I'll track the live line sometimes and I'll see it 581 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 3: drop on a fighter and know that they're going to 582 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,640 Speaker 3: land a big shot when I see it on TV 583 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,879 Speaker 3: five seconds later. So unless you're unless you're in the 584 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 3: arena watching it, I would really avoid betting it during 585 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 3: the round, So be fast, but you got to focus 586 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 3: on that one minute window in between rounds. 587 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 4: The last thing I want to emphasize is that the 588 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 4: way judging has changed in the past year to two 589 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,119 Speaker 4: years relative to previous MMA scoring. If you're just getting 590 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 4: back into betting on MMA, judges are much more likely 591 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 4: to not count or not give any credit to top 592 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 4: time if the fighter isn't doing anything with it. If 593 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 4: you land a takedown hold it for two minutes, but 594 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 4: you don't land a single strike. It almost as if 595 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 4: it didn't happen anymore. Some judges will still count it, 596 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 4: but buying large. If that's all you're doing with the takedown, 597 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 4: it doesn't matter the other fighter pops back up lands 598 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 4: a couple of strikes, They're going to give that round 599 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 4: to the fighter who landed strike. So look for those 600 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 4: fights where one fighter might be getting takedowns but isn't 601 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 4: really doing anything with it. Generally speaking, I go the 602 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 4: other way, and. 603 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 3: I would love it on that topic if we could 604 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 3: go back and rejudge some of my early fights when 605 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 3: I was getting wrestled to death, but the guys weren't 606 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 3: doing anything. So I'm gonna go back and claim a 607 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 3: couple of old amateur wins or a couple of amateur losses. 608 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 3: I'm gonna go back and flip with my twenty twenty 609 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 3: three judging criteria eyes. 610 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: I like how you slip that in there. Listen, and 611 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: so many great tips by the both of you, But 612 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: let's end on this. What is the ultimate thrill betting 613 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: a UFC fight? 614 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 4: Sean start with you, Oh man, you know, I really 615 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 4: think hitting those exact round props is about as good 616 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 4: as it gets when you bet the fighter to win 617 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 4: in round one, especially when you get like a plus 618 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 4: nine hundred or something like that and they actually cash it. 619 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 4: Or you're hitting that round two in round three props 620 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 4: at plus twelve hundred and plus eighteen hundred respectively and 621 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 4: hoping that one of them hits and it does. I 622 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 4: think that's as good as it gets. Predicting the exact 623 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,920 Speaker 4: round that the fighter is gonna win. It's funny when 624 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 4: the fighters predict free you know, pre fight, I'm gonna 625 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 4: win by knockout in round two, and they actually do it. 626 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 4: So being able to make money off of an assumption 627 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 4: that you have in that direction pre fight is it's 628 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:51,520 Speaker 4: about as fun as it gets for me. 629 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say it's. And this is another thing 630 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 3: that's unique to the UFC is your fighter can be 631 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 3: losing for fourteen minutes and fifty nine seconds and land 632 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 3: a big punch at the end and steal it at 633 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 3: the end. So those are the highest highs for me. 634 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 3: You know, if you're watching a team sport, it's a 635 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 3: gradual comeback. Oh there are one runaway, three runs away, 636 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:11,960 Speaker 3: two runs away, one runs away. You can just be 637 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,080 Speaker 3: getting dominated the whole fight down on every judge's scorecard 638 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 3: every round, But it just takes one moment and it's 639 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 3: what makes the sport great. But it's also what makes 640 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 3: gambling on the sport great, and it's also what makes 641 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 3: betting on the sport terrible, because you're going to have 642 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 3: them go for you and against you, and you just 643 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 3: got to know that it's going to even out in 644 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 3: the long run. But those are my favorite moments when 645 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 3: you've kind of already mentally written off the bet as 646 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 3: a loss. There's been some that I've actually on my 647 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 3: spreadsheet already marked down as a loss, and then with 648 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 3: a few seconds left it gets saved. So that's the 649 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 3: big one for me. 650 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 4: And the arena sweat, I believe is better than any 651 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,959 Speaker 4: other sport for me personally too, having bets on UFC 652 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 4: fights when you're in the arena, I don't think any 653 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 4: of it anything else compares to that in person. 654 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: That's got to be amazing. It was certainly amazing to 655 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: me to listen to you guys once again, Sean Zarillo 656 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: and Billy Ward. You can find them on Twitter, of course, 657 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: but definitely follow in the action app because that's where 658 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 1: you're going to find out if you're sort of on 659 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: track with what you're betting, you can compare it to 660 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: what they're doing. And also it's just a great way 661 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: to keep track of everything that you have going on. 662 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,040 Speaker 1: As a reminder, Sean and Billy can also be heard 663 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,520 Speaker 1: every Friday breaking down fight cards on our UFC betting 664 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: preview episodes. That's right here on the Action Network podcast. Guys, 665 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: thanks again for joining me, Thanks for having us once again. 666 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: I'm Maria Marino, and keep an eye out for our 667 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,719 Speaker 1: other expert guides to sports betting, with episodes being released 668 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: throughout the summer here on the Action Network. Podcast, presented 669 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: by FanDuel. Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly. If 670 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: you or someone you care about has a gambling problem, 671 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: help us. Available twenty four to seven at one eight 672 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: hundred Gambler