Combat sports lovers are huge fans of Bellator and the UFC. In fact, the UFC is ranked higher than Bellator. These sports have been practiced a long time ago and are still a favorite of the viewing public.
A fighting sport is any sport that involves one on one sparring among contenders. These fighting sports are usually organized and promoted by different sporting bodies. Bellator, which means warrior, is one of the favorite fighting competitions that is organized in the United states of America. Its headquarters is in Santa Monica, California.
These fighting sports are promoted by bodies like the Bellator or the Bellator MMA as it is fondly called or the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
The UFC has organized over fifty competitions since its inception. Its basic aim when it began was to organize fights among the different combat fights in order to decipher which sport was the best. They did this by placing very minimal restrictions on the nature and degree of the fights. Today, UFC fighters have adopted different techniques from other fighters and now have a more sophisticated style of fight. The UFC Company is based at Las Vegas.
It may be tempting to think that both bodies are the same, but they are not and there exists a huge difference between them. Below, we will examine the difference in the organization of both sports so that it can be easily distinguished.
The Fighters are Different
A major difference between the organizations of the both tournaments is the array of fighters that they have. The fighters on the roster of the Ultimate Fighting Championship are quite different from what we have in Bellator.
Yes, both tournaments are organized with a similar timetable, that is, both tournaments embrace fighters from almost all the fields in the Martial Arts; like the karate, taekwondo, kung-Fu and other combat sport, the fighters that participate in these tournaments are different from each other. The UFC has its stars that fight exclusively in its tournaments. Although, a fighter may decide to switch his or her allegiance from one tournament to the other.
I have observed that the UFC has better fighters than Bellator. This can be explained in terms of the pay that the UFC pays.
It is true that the UFC being the more glamorous, popular and organized company of the two have the ability to engage the services of better and more qualified fighters than other organizations that do not have the financial capacity of the UFC.
The UFC can boast of fighters like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes, and others. The Bellator on the other hand can still boast of some fine fighters like Paul Daley, Michael Page, Cris Cyborg, Gegard Mousasi and so on
A typical example of this is the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a body that organizes wrestling tournaments for wrestlers. It is no news that the WWE fighters are more skilled than the fighters in other tournaments because this organization is richer and can pay better fighters.
Rules of the Events
The UFC and the Bellator promotions differed greatly in the type of rules that govern the conduct of their games. The Bellator promotions were mainly organized as part of a larger tournament. The first bout of fighting consisted of eight fighters, the fights were strictly on the grounds of a single elimination.
On the other hand, in the UFC, the fighters were grouped into classes based on their weights. In all, the UFC has 12 classes of fighters, 8 for the male and 4 for the female fighters. The first weight division was the Heavyweight division that was founded in 1997, other classes soon followed. This was a welcomed development as it was unsafe to pitch certain fighters against each other to avoid serious casualties.
Also read: 7 Best MMA Gloves
The Gloves Used
The gloves used by UFC fighters are remarkably different from those of the Bellator fighters. The UFC in partnership with the manufacturing company Dyaco International provides fighting equipment for their fighters. One of the equipment is gloves. The gloves among other features possess eye pokes, they gloves are visibly flatter this should make it difficult for the fighters to ball their fist during combat. The gloves are made from latex and foam.
While the gloves used by Bellator fighters are produced by Everlast, a trustworthy and prolific brand, the gloves are produced with curves to allow the fighters to flex their fingers. The fingers in the Everlast gloves are pointed downwards and not straight to prevent eye pokes that are a frequent occurrence in the UFC.
The Cage
This may be about the most obvious difference between the two tournaments. Both tournaments make use of different kinds of cage. The UFC favors an octagon shaped cage for its fights, while the Bellator organizers make use of a circular cage. Of the two, it is difficult to tell which is better for fighting.
Another difference in the way the cage is designed is the size of the cage. The Bellator promoters make use of a bigger cage that is approximately 25% bigger than that of the UFC.
Truth is, when it comes to combat fighting and its promotions, there are 2 great names: UFC and Bellator. While they both promote the same type of fighting, there are some slight differences in the way they carry this out.
An obvious difference is in the size and style of the cage, while another difference is in the gloves they wear, the organization of the sport is also different, the fighters roster is different too. While the UFC attracted better fighters than the Bellator, probably due to the pay and glamour of the UFC, the UFC is also more popular and entertaining than the Bellator, the Bellator have maintained the earliest and basic form of fighting and takes great pride in maintaining this standard of fighting
