Take a break from your basketball news for a minute and check out this list of the top three UFC matches of all time in regards to significance, not in terms of what were actually the best matches. Here is the trio that helped bring mixed martial arts to the mainstream.

Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz – April 2004

These former teammates fought twice with Liddell winning both via knockout, but the first was important as the bad blood between the two made headlines and 105,000 people bought the pay-per-view, which may not sound like a lot, but it was at the time.

Forrest Griffin vs. Stephen Bonnar – April 2005

The first meeting between these two in the finale of the first “Ultimate Fighter” season has been called the most important fight in MMA history as everyone, even those who work with bookmaker betting software, started to pay attention after this slugfest. Griffin came out on top, but both won contracts with the UFC because of their war. The rematch occurred in August 2006, and wasn’t nearly as good.

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir – July 2009

Lesnar brought a lot of hype to the UFC from his time in WWE (where he has since returned), but he was submitted by Mir, a former champion, in his debut back in February 2008. This was the rematch at UFC 100, a landmark for the company and to date, it’s the highest-selling PPV in UFC history with 1.6 million buys. Lesnar would avenge his loss with Mir with a second-round TKO to unify the heavyweight belts, surprising some sharps that play at sportsbooks.

Put down your Toronto FC news for a minute and turn your attention to the UFC, which has grown by leaps and bounds from its inception to the multinational conglomerate we see today. But who are the top champions in the history of the company?

Anderson Silva

“The Spider” has the longest title reign in UFC history as he won the 185-pound belt from Rich Franklin in October 2006, and he continues to loom over the division. He’ll be the favorite at your best online sports betting sites when he meets Chael Sonnen, who has come the closest to dethroning Silva, who has to be in the running for the best MMA fighter ever, in any promotion.

Georges St. Pierre

The welterweight champion still has some work to do at 170 pounds as he has to face interim champ Carlos Condit when St. Pierre returns from his knee injury. St. Pierre has held the title three times (once was an interim belt), and he gets the slight edge over Matt Hughes because of his current reign, which began in April 2008.

Randy Couture

Couture gets the nod over Chuck Liddell for one reason: “The Natural” is a three-time heavyweight champion as well as a two-time champ at 205 pounds, so he is the only man in UFC history to win belts in two weight classes. The heavyweight titles are impressive because Couture isn’t the largest heavyweight in the world, relying instead on technique and heart, and he was long the face of the UFC to sports betting sharps.

Even those that write a soccer blog like to get in on some action from the world of mixed martial arts, and the UFC is the king of the mountain. Here is a look at the top three fights in UFC history.

Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar

These two went toe to toe in the finals of the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, and while it wasn’t a great technical fight, these two warriors stood in the middle of the octagon and slugged it out for 15 minutes in 2005. Griffin got the win via decision, but Bonnar also earned a UFC contract and the two can probably fight as long as they want, based off the fight that took MMA into the mainstream.

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

Silva was a massive betting favorite and no one really gave Sonnen much of a chance when they met in August 2010, but Sonnen used his wrestling to take Silva, who reportedly had a broken rib, to the mat and pummel him. It was the first time we’d seen Silva in trouble in the UFC, and Sonnen was two minutes away from taking the middleweight belt, before Silva slapped on a triangle choke. The two will meet again this summer in Brazil.

Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua

These legends met last November in Henderson’s return to the UFC, and they left it all in the octoagon as “Hendo” pounded “Shogun” for three rounds before Rua made a stirring comeback, falling just short in a match many felt was a draw. If you wagered on Henderson, the final two rounds was probably a nail-biting time for sport betting players.

You can look at the NBA standings right now and tell which teams have the momentum to get into the playoffs, and gauge whether or not they can carry that momentum through the postseason. But does momentum have a place in mixed martial arts?

Baseball betting sharps will also see momentum swings throughout a 162-game season, but in MMA, fighters don’t have that many chances to get into the cage, so momentum isn’t nearly as big in this sport. It is always good for a fighter to come into a match on a three or four-fight winning streak, but there is a lot to consider in MMA. All it takes is one punch, kick or mistake to fall into a submission and a fight is over, so a streak can end before you can blink.

Then you have to factor in the competition and in MMA, there is a very thin line between the great fighters and the ones that are just getting by (they’re called gatekeepers, for the most part). Anyone can get a good streak going against lower-tier guys, but what happens when they make the next step up in competition? What if they’re used to fighting in the prelims, but then have to fight on a pay-per-view (which has given some great fighters “octagon jitters” in the past)?

Momentum is fine for stick-and-ball sports, and it does play a role in MMA, but not as large as you would expect, so take that with you before you make your sports betting picks.

If MMA were like a March Madness bracket, it would be filled with loads of dream matches from different weight classes. Right now, these are the top three matchups that we would love to see, assuming that it’s feasible due to weight classes.

Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones

Jones would be Kentucky if he were a 2012 March Madness betting option: young, dominant and with a ton of room to improve. He is essentially a younger version of Silva, who has wiped out the 185-pound division ahead of his rematch with Chael Sonnen, and we’ve seen Silva at 205 pounds before. The two friends said they wouldn’t fight, but we’ve heard that before.

Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre

This was the matchup everyone wanted to see before Silva-Jones, as these two have dominated their weight classes over the last few years, Silva at 185 pounds and GSP at 170 pounds. Silva has had problems with wrestlers in the past, and GSP may be a better wrestler than Sonnen or Jones. There are a number of theories as to why this hasn’t happened, but it would be fun.

Jon Jones vs. Junior Dos Santos

Right now, Dos Santos is the reigning heavyweight champion, so he gets the call against Jones, who is planning to move up to that class after he wipes out the 205-pound division. This would be a fun battle of strikers, but Jones could have the edge because of his wrestling, although Dos Santos has been almost impossible to take down. This would be a great matchup in your online sports book.

Whether you read an NHL hockey blog, you’re a football fan or you follow baseball, the term “grudge match” is often used, but in combat sports, the participants really get to settle matters with their fists. You’ll get one of these matches in the main event of UFC 145 in Atlanta, where light-heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones faces former teammate Rashad Evans, who is aiming to capture the belt for a second time.

UFC 145 Odds – Saturday, April 21^st, 9:00 PM ET

If Jones (15-1) were a March Madness betting option, he’d be a top seed after rolling through 2011 with a 4-0 record, routing all four opponents and three were former champions. He is a frightening mix of strength and athleticism with wrestling and Muay Thai striking, but it is his willingness to try new things that make him tough to plan for.

However, if anyone knows how to handle Jones, it is Evans (18-1-1), who was hurt leading up to a fight with then-champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, which is how Jones came to receive his shot at the belt. Evans is an excellent wrestler that has improved his striking, and he has trained with Jones, so he knows a few tricks that others don’t.

Jones comes into this bout as a huge -565 favorite, while Evans is rated at +450 and his best chance is to get inside his younger opponent’s head before the fight because it’s tough to find anyone who can match Jones’ physical skills. This is going to be closer than many expect and Jones may have to go the full 25 minutes for the first time in eight fights, but lean towards the champ in your sports betting picks.

The UFC was initially created to pit fighters of various mixed martial arts face off against one another to see which was the dominant style, but now fighters are adding other methods to their background, which makes for some well-rounded warriors. Here are some of the styles you’ll run across in MMA.

You can break up MMA into three areas: stand-up, the clinch and ground. Stand-up features all types of striking, which includes boxing, Muay Thai, and karate. Many players that work with price per head services will tell you this is the most exciting area of MMA, and it often leads to brutal knockouts.

But striking can also help set up your ground game, which encompasses Brazilian jiu-jitsu, all types of wrestling, and judo. The point of working on the ground is to establish control and gain submissions, which is one of the three ways a fight can end (the other two are by knockout or decision). Most top fighters have either jiu-jitsu or wrestling in their arsenal.

The clinch is a combination of the stand-up and ground games as you’re in close quarters, but you are standing up. You can throw Muay Thai knees and elbows like Anderson Silva, or you can use judo throws to take your opponent to the mat like Lyoton Machida. You can utilize a style of “dirty boxing” that has been popularized by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, or maybe you can take pieces from all styles, like Jon Jones.

The new, versatile fighter will always be a favorite in most online sportsbooks.

While Super Bowl betting is hot right now, MMA fans and betting players alike will be getting ready for the company’s annual Super Bowl weekend card and UFC 143 should be just as good as the big game. But if you’re new to the MMA betting game, here are a few tips to get you started.

Do Your Research

It would be best if you went back and check out old video of the combatants in the matchups you would like to bet on because that is really the only way that you can assess what they do. For example, in the matchup between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit for the interim welterweight title, you may read about Diaz’s awkward style of boxing, but you will really get a feel for it by watching one of his matches, whether it is in the UFC or back in Strikeforce.

Styles Make Fights

This ties into the first tip because the only way you can know a fighter’s style is to do your research. The old adage goes, “styles make fights”, and if a fighter with weak takedown defense is going up against an opponent who always shoots for takedowns, that could be a hint for you.

Stay Within Your Means

This tip will help with any sport, but you should have a budget and stick to it, win or lose. No fighter is ever certain to win, and all it takes is a right hand to end any fight; if you lose, you’ll start chasing bets and making poor decisions, which will be the downfall of your sport betting account.

The most hardened UFC fans can admit that their sport has changed a lot over the last two decades, some for the best, some for the worst. Here is a quick synopsis of how the rules have changed the sport.

The first UFC event was titled, “There are no rules!” , but there were a few; you couldn’t bite or gouge the eyes. There were no time limits, but eventually 30-minute limits were installed to bring some sort of finality to the match (imagine Super Bowl betting players watching a tie game for several overtime periods). By UFC 12, fighters had to wear padded gloves that had to be approved by the UFC, weighing in at 4-6 ounces.

In the same event, tournaments were broken up by heavyweight and lightweight divisions, instead of the eight-man open-weight tournament that was the UFC’s origin. By UFC 15, headbutts, strikes to the groin, back of the neck and head and to pressure points were deemed illegal, as well as soccer kicks and knees to the head of an opponent that is on the mat.

By UFC 31, the current weight class structure is adopted, although the company is adding new classes such as flyweight. The most recent rule change came at UFC 138, when the first five-round non-title bout was held. Previously, only championship fights were only five rounds and non-title tilts were three rounds.

The UFC has come a long way from their roots in terms of rules, which has helped to legitimize mixed martial arts as a sport, and it is now a favorite of many who frequent betting websites.

Even WWE fans have to be impressed with the rise of mixed martial arts, and it may have gotten their attention that former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar moved to the UFC and became a champion, although MMA diehards still have their doubts after Lesnar retired from the sport. However, MMA has been around much longer than the UFC.

You could argue that MMA started back in the Greco-Roman era, when men grappled in the ancient Olympics and of course, that turned into Greco-Roman wrestling, which is still used today (players that work with price per head services would look to guys like Randy Couture and Dan Henderson as men that still use this style of wrestling). Then there were no-holds barred competitions back in the late 1880s in which men used a number of different styles, not just wrestling and this had an effect on the current state of MMA as there are so many various styles that fighters can use to earn a victory. Soon after this, competitions would be held throughout Europe and Asia as fighters were given points for fights, but there were legislated rules that fighters had to follow.

Then you have the popularization of styles like karate and judo, which jumped into the limelight with movie stars like Bruce Lee, who himself said that he has no particular style, he just took pieces from each style and that is similar to what fighters do now. But rest assured, if Lee were actually a fighter in today’s MMA, he would be a strong option when you’re sports betting online.