This may not be a popular opinion. However, it is happening. First, lets take into fact that Bellator 192 was a success in terms of ratings for Bellator and was going H2H with a UFC PPV. Bellator 192 Ratings Top 1.3 Million
But lets look a little deeper. I am using scorecardmma.com to support this post because it has easily accessible rankings for both leagues.
First up HW:
UFC
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Francis Ngannou
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Fabricio Werdum
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Junior dos Santos
7 Josh Barnett
8 Mark Hunt
9 Cain Velasquez
10 Derrick Lewis
Bellator
1 Matt Mitrione
2 Chael Sonnen
3 Roy Nelson
4 Cheick Kongo
5 Fedor Emelianenko
6 Quinton Jackson
7 Bobby Lashley
8 Javy Ayala
9 Valentin Moldavsky
10 Frank Mir
Ok, this one is easily in the UFC's favor. We knock this division all the time but the fact is that there aren't many elite HWs out there and for the most part the UFC has found them and signed them all. Vitaly Minokov would be a huge acquisition for either company.
Light Heavyweight
UFC
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Mauricio Rua
6 Ovince St. Preux
7 Jimi Manuwa
8 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9 Patrick Cummins
10 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Bellator
1 Ryan Bader
2 Phil Davis
3 Muhammed Lawal
4 Linton Vassell
5 Liam McGeary
6 Vadim Nemkov
7 Leo Leite
8 Wanderlei Silva
9 Francis Carmont
10 Philipe Lins
The UFC has a slight edge here but not much. Especially if Jon Jones stays out and DC retires next year. But really the top 5 of Bader, Davis, Lawal, Vassell, and McGreary is just as solid as DC, Gus, Oezdemir, Texeira, and Rua. Competitively Bellator is much more competitive but that has more to do with the separation of DC and Gus over the rest in UFC. Jon Jones shakes this up big time but right now these two divisions look remarkably similar. Strong top and fades fast after about 3 spots. If you combined these two divisions it would be fun to watch.
Middlewieght
UFC
1 Robert Whittaker
2 Georges St. Pierre
3 Ronaldo Souza
4 Luke Rockhold
5 Yoel Romero
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Chris Weidman
9 Derek Brunson
Bellator
1 Gegard Mousasi
2 Alexander Shlemenko
3 Rafael Carvalho
4 John Salter
5 Anatoly Tokov
6 Chidi Njokuani
7 Rafael Lovato Jr.
8 Jordan Young
9 Gregory Babene
10 Melvin Manhoef
This one the gap is still widely in the UFC's favor. Bellator just needs to be very thankful for Mousasi.
Welterweight
UFC
1 Tyron Woodley
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Rafael dos Anjos
4 Colby Covington
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Demian Maia
7 Santiago Ponzinibbio
8 Darren Till
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Jorge Masvidal
BELLATOR
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Douglas Lima
3 Andrey Koreshkov
4 Paul Daley
5 Lorenz Larkin
6 Michael Page
7 Neiman Gracie
8 Fernando Gonzalez
9 Ricky Rainey
10 E.J. Brooks
The depth across the top 10 belongs to the UFC. The top 5 might be in Bellator's favor. Rory is arguably the best WW on the planet. Lima is fantastic. MVP might be the most interesting WW, or Covington. The UFC really needs GSP here. This one I would give the slight edge to Bellator or call it a push. Regardless this is another division where Bellator closed the gap tremendously.
The rest of the divisions are heavily in the UFC's favor. My point is that not so long ago Bellator needed a Kimbo fight to move the needle. Now they have closed the gap in several divisions big time. Add in the expiring contracts of some big name fighters and current free agent market and we could see a shift to more parody across leagues.
But lets look a little deeper. I am using scorecardmma.com to support this post because it has easily accessible rankings for both leagues.
First up HW:
UFC
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Francis Ngannou
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Fabricio Werdum
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Junior dos Santos
7 Josh Barnett
8 Mark Hunt
9 Cain Velasquez
10 Derrick Lewis
Bellator
1 Matt Mitrione
2 Chael Sonnen
3 Roy Nelson
4 Cheick Kongo
5 Fedor Emelianenko
6 Quinton Jackson
7 Bobby Lashley
8 Javy Ayala
9 Valentin Moldavsky
10 Frank Mir
Ok, this one is easily in the UFC's favor. We knock this division all the time but the fact is that there aren't many elite HWs out there and for the most part the UFC has found them and signed them all. Vitaly Minokov would be a huge acquisition for either company.
Light Heavyweight
UFC
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Mauricio Rua
6 Ovince St. Preux
7 Jimi Manuwa
8 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9 Patrick Cummins
10 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Bellator
1 Ryan Bader
2 Phil Davis
3 Muhammed Lawal
4 Linton Vassell
5 Liam McGeary
6 Vadim Nemkov
7 Leo Leite
8 Wanderlei Silva
9 Francis Carmont
10 Philipe Lins
The UFC has a slight edge here but not much. Especially if Jon Jones stays out and DC retires next year. But really the top 5 of Bader, Davis, Lawal, Vassell, and McGreary is just as solid as DC, Gus, Oezdemir, Texeira, and Rua. Competitively Bellator is much more competitive but that has more to do with the separation of DC and Gus over the rest in UFC. Jon Jones shakes this up big time but right now these two divisions look remarkably similar. Strong top and fades fast after about 3 spots. If you combined these two divisions it would be fun to watch.
Middlewieght
UFC
1 Robert Whittaker
2 Georges St. Pierre
3 Ronaldo Souza
4 Luke Rockhold
5 Yoel Romero
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Chris Weidman
9 Derek Brunson
Bellator
1 Gegard Mousasi
2 Alexander Shlemenko
3 Rafael Carvalho
4 John Salter
5 Anatoly Tokov
6 Chidi Njokuani
7 Rafael Lovato Jr.
8 Jordan Young
9 Gregory Babene
10 Melvin Manhoef
This one the gap is still widely in the UFC's favor. Bellator just needs to be very thankful for Mousasi.
Welterweight
UFC
1 Tyron Woodley
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Rafael dos Anjos
4 Colby Covington
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Demian Maia
7 Santiago Ponzinibbio
8 Darren Till
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Jorge Masvidal
BELLATOR
1 Rory MacDonald
2 Douglas Lima
3 Andrey Koreshkov
4 Paul Daley
5 Lorenz Larkin
6 Michael Page
7 Neiman Gracie
8 Fernando Gonzalez
9 Ricky Rainey
10 E.J. Brooks
The depth across the top 10 belongs to the UFC. The top 5 might be in Bellator's favor. Rory is arguably the best WW on the planet. Lima is fantastic. MVP might be the most interesting WW, or Covington. The UFC really needs GSP here. This one I would give the slight edge to Bellator or call it a push. Regardless this is another division where Bellator closed the gap tremendously.
The rest of the divisions are heavily in the UFC's favor. My point is that not so long ago Bellator needed a Kimbo fight to move the needle. Now they have closed the gap in several divisions big time. Add in the expiring contracts of some big name fighters and current free agent market and we could see a shift to more parody across leagues.