Floating around the Internet, you can often find requests: “bets on MMA” and “bets on UFC”, many inexperienced bettors believe that both definitions are one and the same, but not in this case.
For beginners it’s usually difficult to understand the difference between these options. If for those who are in the topic, the answer is more than obvious, for strangers these two terms, muddled with each other, can lead to a deadlock. For some, they may seem like similar, but different sports, hence lot’s questions can appear, for example, which is cooler. For others, both are part of something common, thus they are separate independent elements that together form one whole. Sometimes people think that both terms express the same concept, which means fighting without rules. So let’s finally puzzle everything out once for all.
What is MMA?
MMA or Mixed Martial Arts is a separate kind of sport, such as boxing or wrestling. The word “mixed” means that here to bear the palm fighter is allowed to use both percussion and wrestling manners. Therefore, it is a more flexible, full-contact martial art, which can combine the most effective techniques of all other martial arts. All this makes the sport less limited, multifaceted and more spectacular. At the same time, mixed-style fights cannot be considered “fights without rules”, as, like any other entertaining event, they are held according to determined rules.
What is the UFC?
The UFC or The Ultimate Fighting Championship is an organization headquartered in Las Vegas. Its aim is to arrange and conduct athletes’ fights across the World Cup tournaments according to the rules of MMA. In other words, it is just a mixed martial arts championship. There are up to a hundred similar championships, but this is the most popular only among the more or less well-known ones.
So it’s not possible to find the difference, as both are incompatible concepts. It’s like comparing football and UEFA. In our case, as a separate sport, it cannot be compared with the championship, thus just its part and nothing more.
Why are they so often muddled up?
The UFC is currently recognized as the strongest MMA championship on the planet, in which all the strongest fighters in the world aspire to perform. Participating in its tournaments is not only honorable, but also profitable financially, as you can earn more money here than anywhere else.
The organization holds high-level fights around the world, obtaining equal incomes, as well as strong media support. This is the most popular mixed martial arts championship, and it’s no wonder that many people at first find out about the it and then only about sport itself, often misinterpreting both concepts. As a result, the person knows about The Ultimate Fighting Championship, considering it a separate concept, and knows nothing about MMA, or knows that “besides it, there is some other thing out there.”
On the other hand, MMA is a fairly young sport that has not yet gained widespread popularity and at the same time can’t, for obvious reasons, engage in self-promotion as the UFC. On the contrary, the last, based on its own financial capabilities and popularity, promotes both its own brand and the sport.
Striking the balance: what to bet on
Of course, it’s impossible to bet on the UFC, since this isn’t a sport at all, but at the same time you can make an MMA bet on any fight that will take place in a tournament arranged by the organization. Choosing between both options to gamble on is also impossible because in fact they refer to the same concept, the only difference is that the first is a sport, but the second is its part. So don’t get confused and enjoy making money on betting.
