What Happens to UFC Bets When a Fight Ends in No Contest – UFC No Contest Rules

No contests stagger gamblers with the same force haymakers wobble fighters in the heat of bettable battle. What happens to bets when a fight is ruled a no contest? Wonder no more!

What’s a No Contest?

The Unified Rules of MMA define a no contest as “when a contest is prematurely stopped due to accidental injury and a sufficient amount of time has not been completed to render a decision via the scorecards.”

Sportsbooks’ No Contest General Rule

UFC fighters carry a heavier burden than the bettors wagering on them. All major sportsbooks stipulate that combat sports fights “must have action” for the bet to be official. The phrase means as long as the fighters compete within the sportsbook’s time frame (usually 24 hours), the bet counts. All major sportsbooks refund fights that end via premature means like a fight stopped by an accidental foul that the referee rules a no contest. Overturns from appeals or drug tests fail to trigger bet reimbursements.

How UFC Drug Testing Works

The UFC has subjected fighters to stringent drug testing since 2015. The United States Anti-Doping Agency administers the process. USADA handles Olympic drug testing the same way it tests UFC fighters. USADA collects samples for out-of-competition drug testing at random times. They collect samples and send them to a where the the samples are analyzed based on The World Anti-Doping Agency’s codes. USADA reports the findings based on these rules. Consequences include suspensions and changing official fight results from wins to no contests might occur. 

Technical Draws: Exception To The Rule

Technical draws sound more complicated than they are. 

The Unified Rules of MMA define these rare events as “when an injury is sustained during competition as a result of an intentional foul and the bout is allowed to continue, then later the injury requires stoppage from either a legal or illegal strike to the affected area after half of the scheduled rounds, plus one second has been completed, if the injured contestant is even or behind on the scorecards at the time of stoppage, the decision is a technical draw.”

Major Sportsbook No Contest Rulings: DraftKings

DraftKings’ house rules sum the situation up. “In the declaration of a no-contest or technical draw, all bets will be void and wagers will be refunded, with the exception of markets where the outcome has already been determined.”