Myles Jury has competed in both the UFC and Bellator, so he speaks from firsthand experience.
The main difference between the two promotions is “control,” Jury (18-5 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) recently told MMA Junkie. “From 2012-2019, Jury competed 12 times under the UFC banner. According to Jury, the UFC’s urge to be in charge of everything took its toll on him.
A member of the Bellator roster since mid-2019, Jury’s fight week experiences are much different now, he said.
“For Bellator, the main difference is control,” Jury said. “The UFC are control freaks. They like to control everything from what you wear to when you show up to fight week to how you basically present yourself. If you’re saying bad things, you’re going to get cut. Basically, they just love to control.
“For Bellator it’s a little more relaxed. They let you come in and do your own thing. They just want you to show up, go out there, and fight well. There’s no crazy fight week stuff. It’s just very more relaxed at Bellator. I like that, man, because I’m a fighter.”
In Jury’s eyes, the fighters are the product, but he said in the UFC, they aren’t treated as such. At the end of the day, it’s the fighters who fight – not the promotion’s other workers, Jury said.
“I’m a fighter,” Jury said. “I don’t work in an office. I don’t like people telling me what I need to wear, coming backstage telling me, ‘You’re doing this at this time.’ Basically, treat me like an employee, man. I’m a fighter. I’m the product. When I go out there and fight, I’m the man. I’m the one going out there doing it. I don’t care what the cameraman says or what time they think we need to be ready and all this. I don’t want to hear any of that. I’m a product. I’m the one going out there and putting on the show – me and my fellow fighters.”
Describing the situation in layman’s terms, Jury used an analogy. He compared the UFC to a chain restaurant, with Bellator being the “mom-and-pop” restaurant that serves the better food.
“Sometimes with the UFC, it’s so big. It’s such a corporate feel, like if you go to a restaurant or something,” Jury said. “You’ve got the mom-and-pop restaurant and you’ve got the big corporation restaurants. I feel like that’s Bellator. Bellator is the strong mom-and-pop shop that comes from a good place. They let you be yourself a little bit more.”
