We rarely bet on a MMA fight, but when we do we take everything into consideration. We never bet blindly and the MMA is no exception. We strategize and plan out every move before we release a pick.
As in MLB or NHL we rarely bet on the heavy favorite. Quite simply we stay away from these fighters at all costs. Underdogs win in the long-term. The reason is because of the ratio of wins to losses of the underdogs and favorites. This means that there is a huge amount of juice on the favorites, so we're going to have to win very consistently at 72%+ if we're betting on the favorites. Instead, we bet on underdogs, the winning percentage goes down but the bankroll goes up.
It's human nature really. When the general public is involved in betting MMA fights, the casual better is going to bet on the well-known champions of the game, thus driving up the odds for the favorite. In order to even this out, by betting on the underdogs, since the bets of most people are with the top dogs, we make more money.