What is hotter right now UFC or boxing?

 

What is hotter right now UFC or boxing? 

By Tom Masters

 

Boxing has for a long time been the most popular combat sport around the world, but the recent emergence of UFC has seen the gap narrowed, with the cage fighting phenomenon growing in popularity year-on-year. 

 

It has become a bit of a grudge amongst fans of both sports and we are even seeing crossovers such as the fight between Connor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. 

 

But with that said, what is hotter right now, UFC or boxing? 

 

1.     Difference in belts 

 

One thing that often puts casual viewers off boxing is the number of belts compared to its direct rival UFC. 

 

Boxing has five belts over 17 different weight categories, which does mean more fights, but it also means a long way to the top, with several world title fights per year. 

 

UFC in contrast has just the one belt per weight category, which essentially means there have to be more title fights, meaning the best of the best fight each other far more often. 

 

This tends to draw more casual viewers in, hearing of fights such as Connor McGregor v Nate Diaz for a title is more likely to draw people in than a challenger fight between equally big names such as Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua against the smaller names. 

 

The fact that fighters have to fight the best and each fight is unified in that weight class certainly gives UFC the edge here, although the biggest boxing fights are still attract more casual fans.

 

2.     Boxing still more popular 

 

Despite the UFC’s simpler system of one belt per division, boxing is far more readily available generally, and is simpler to understand for the casual viewer. 

 

Boxing fights have generally over the years been taking place in the UK, at Wembley Stadium for example, making it both more accessible to watch live, but also making the timings better for the UK audience. 

 

Sky Box Office, while not an excellent option due to the fact you need a pricey subscription and then an extra £20 to pay for a fight, is far more readily available than even the biggest UFC fights. 

 

Another thing that boxing has over UFC is its presence in the Olympics, meaning it is at an event that often attracts new fans, especially when seeing fairy-tale stories such as Katie Taylor and Nicola Adams. 

 

3.     Crossovers coming into boxing and not UFC 

 

We have seen big UFC fighters come into boxing, most famously of course Connor McGregor, probably the most famous UFC fighter in the world right now fighting one of boxing’s biggest ever names in Floyd Mayweather. 

 

But we have also seen the likes of Ben Askren fighting Jake Paul as the UFC fighters make the jump to boxing. 

 

There are also rumours that Nate Diaz will be coming into boxing, potentially as Paul’s next opponent. 

 

So why is this happening? Perhaps because it would be harder to move into UFC from boxing, but mainly because boxing is more popular, with a larger pot of money behind it.

McGregor picked up over $100m for the fight with Mayweather, whereas his massive fight with Diaz earned the Irish fighter around $3m. 

 

There is a substantial difference in that, which is why we can expect to see more fighters coming in from the Octagon into the ring and not the other way round. 

 

Overall: 

 

UFC has gained a lot of following and will continue to do so, but there can be no doubt that boxing is still a long way ahead in terms of popularity, money and accessibility. 

IMAGE CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES