What Is the Main Difference Between BKFC and UFC?

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Many people confuse the “Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC)” with the “Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)” for two main reasons. First, the name sounds similar, and second, many former UFC fighters compete in the BKFC. But what is the exact difference between these two sports?

BKFC is a promotion that organizes bare-knuckle boxing events where the rules are similar to boxing using only handstrikes, but without gloves. In contrast, the UFC promotes MMA matches in which fighters can strike with all limbs, wrestle, and fight on the ground.

This is a basic explanation of how these two sports differ from one another so be sure to read the rest of this article to learn more about it.

What is BKFC?

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is a combat sports promotion based in the US. As its name indicates, the promotion organizes bare-knuckle boxing matches on the global level. It is considered the pioneer of bare-knuckle boxing in modern times.

Although bare-knuckle events were popular in the 19th century, BKFC is the first sanctioned one in modern times. It was founded in 2018 by the former pro boxer David Feldman, and the inaugural event took place on June 2nd, 2018, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

At first, this form of entertainment received a negative backlash from the majority of the combat sports community. However, despite being visually brutal, matches managed to break through the initial rejection and reach a high level of popularity. In fact, BKFC is slowly becoming a mainstream sport.

What is UFC?

UFC is the biggest MMA promotion and an absolute leader in the industry. The company promotes a sport that embraces the concept of freestyle combat, where athletes from different fighting disciplines compete against each other under limited rules.

To a certain extent, it’s the closest humans have come to legal street fighting. The rules enable fighters to strike with all limbs, use takedowns to advance to the ground, and finish the fight with chokes and joint locks. So, visually, it looks a lot like actual fighting.

UFC is home to the best fighters the MMA world has to offer, and winning the UFC belt in one or more weight classes makes you a legitimate world champion.

Apart from organizing the best and largest events worldwide, UFC is also a strong brand. Since its establishment in 1993, the promotion has gone through many ups and downs to become one of the most popular mainstream sports in modern times. Though it has organized over 300 pay-per-view events, 700 in total, the UFC brand is still growing far more than any other MMA organization.

The major difference between BKFC and UFC

BKFC and UFC are both private companies that promote different combat sports. Here is a detailed explanation of all the differences between the two:

Concept and techniques

BKFC promotes bare-knuckle boxing matches where fighters hit each other without wearing full-padded gloves. Like regular boxers, they use similar techniques like punches, footwork and head movement, and they are also allowed to fight inside the clinch. They use the same offensive and defensive techniques. However, due to the lack of gloves, they need to adapt them to their environment.

The UFC is more versatile because it allows fighters to compete in various fighting scenarios, whether it is standing up or on the ground. On the feet, they can strike using punches, kicks, elbows, and knees and fight inside the clinch. They can wrestle using judo and wrestling moves to score takedowns and then fight on the ground using positioning, chokes, and joint locks.

Each UFC athlete must develop all-around skills by training in multiple disciplines such as Muay Thai, Boxing, BJJ, and Wrestling.

Rules of competition

Official BKFC rules

Match duration: each bout is 5 rounds with each one being 2 minutes long. There is a 1-minute break between each round.
Fighting area: matches take place inside the circular four-rope ring called a “Squared circle.”
Gear: fighters are allowed to wrap and tape the wrists, thumb, and mid-hand. They wear boxing shoes, shorts, and mouthguards.
Knockdown rule: if a fighter gets knocked down, they have 10 seconds to get back to their feet and show the referee they have recovered enough to continue.
Ways to win: knockout, disqualification, doctor stoppage

UFC follows the “Unified Rules of MMA”

Match duration: regular matches are 3 rounds while championship bouts and main events are 5 rounds. Each round is 5 minutes long, and there is 1 minute break between each round.
Fighting area: fighters compete inside the octagon-shaped platform with cage walls called “octagon.” There are two variations known as “smaller” and “full-size” octagons.
Gear: fighters compete wearing 4 oz open-fingered gloves, hand wraps, shorts (sports bra), mouth guard, and groin guard.
Ways to win: Knockout, submission, disqualification, doctor stoppage

Regularity/Legality

BKFC is not as widely accepted or regulated as MMA. BKFC events are not legalized in all the US states, for instance, mainly because many people consider it “barbaric” and too violent for the broad audience. There are many countries around the world where this form of entertainment is illegal.

BKFC is legal in states like Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, and Mississippi, as well as in European countries such as England and Bulgaria.

UFC is different because the sport of MMA is legal in all US states and the majority of countries worldwide.

Which one is a safer combat sport?

MMA is a safer sport overall because apart from striking, fighters also spend a lot of time wrestling on the feet and grappling on the ground, while bare-knuckle boxers spend the entire fight time exchanging hard blows to the head without the gloves.

However, there is also an argument that BKFC is safer due to the lower concussion rate. Here are some of the key arguments from both sides:

BKFC has more head strikes

BKFC boxers use only their hands to land damaging shots, so fighters absorb far more punches to the head than MMA fighters. To make matters worse, the lack of gloves makes it harder for the fighters to block, so the majority of these shots land on the target. The rules also enable clinch fighting, which further increases the head striking rate.

MMA is different because fighters often transition between striking and ground fighting. According to statistics, UFC fighters spend 38.1% of fight time (1:54 minutes per 5-minute round) on the ground.

BKFC has more facial injuries

Due to the lack of padded gloves for both hand and face protection, bare-knuckle boxing involves a much higher rate of facial injuries. Look at any random match that went to a decision, and you will see fighters’ faces looking like they have survived a head-on car crash. Landing a shot with your knuckles tears off the skin like a knife, so severe lacerations and fractures are common.

MMA also has a problem with facial injuries, but far less than bare-knuckle.

Striking in BKFC is less powerful

Although BKFC visually looks brutal, fighters actually absorb less powerful shots than in other combat sports, including MMA. Due to the lack of gloves and supports for the wrists, it’s much easier for fighters to injure their hands. Just a single power punch to the forehead or that lands at a wrong angle can easily break the wrist or cause other injuries.

As a result, bare-knuckle fighters must be strategic and rely more on technique and less powerful shots to do damage. These punches usually cause a lot of skin lacerations, severe bleeding, or swelling, but on the other side, there is less concussions.

Padded gloves, both in boxing and the UFC, protect the fighter’s hands and enable them to throw each shot with full power without worrying much about hand injuries. As a result, there are more power shots and concussions.

However, detailed studies on the dangers and injuries in bare-knuckle boxing are yet to be published.

UFC Fighters Who Fought In BKFC

Many former UFC contenders and champions have transitioned to the BKFC championship. One of the reasons why BKFC is rising at a high rate is because the following UFC fighters are bringing in massive viewership.

Some notable fighters who were known to have participated in BKFC include:

Artem Lobov — is a former UFC fighter who competed in the 145-pound division. Apart from putting on exciting fights, he was also known as Conor Mcgregor’s best friend while the Irishman was at the peak of his fame. He was the first UFC fighter to sign with BKFC, and he famously beat the former pro boxer Paul Malignagi.
Chris Leben — is the former UFC 185-pound champion who signed with the BKFC in 2019. Despite being out of his prime, Leben managed to win a fight via knockout within the first minute of the match by knocking out another MMA fighter, Justin Baesman.
Eddie Alvarez — is the former UFC lightweight champion and the most famous MMA fighter to compete under the BKFC banner. After making a successful debut in 2023, he lost the middleweight fight against Mike Perry at the BKFC 56 event.
Mike Perry — is another UFC contender who discovered massive success in bare-knuckle. In his career with BKFC thus far, he beat the former Bellator champion, Michael Page, in a decision, and he famously knocked out Luke Rockhold.
Luke Rockhold — is the former UFC middleweight champion. After retiring from MMA, he signed up with BKFC to fight Mike Perry, but he lost via TKO in the second round.

Why did the UFC stop bare-knuckle fighting?

When UFC started in 1993, wearing the gloves was optional with the majority of fighters choosing not to wear them. Therefore, early UFC fighters used to fight with bare knuckles. The gloves were then introduced much later at UFC 14 in 1997.

Many people wonder – why did the UFC stop bare-knuckle fighting? There are two major reasons why the UFC shifted away from bare-knuckle style.

To improve the public image

The early UFC events were brutal and, in the eyes of many people, barbaric. Although the concept of freestyle combat was exciting, the UFC needed to introduce certain rules to make its product a legitimate combat sport.

The majority of people associate bare-knuckle fighting without weight classes and rules with the barbaric slugfests from medieval and ancient times. Modern society simply rejected the idea of watching bare-knuckle MMA, and the UFC received a huge negative backlash.

UFC decided to introduce gloves to make it more suitable for a broad audience. As a result, the matches looked safer and the athletes more professional. Also, the glove design was different from boxing or kickboxing, which made the sport authentic.

To make the sport regulated

The early UFC events were so violent that almost every U.S. state refused to sanction the events. This also made it harder for the UFC to get broadcasting deals with popular sports networks. Things reached breaking point when Senator John McCain famously described UFC as “human cockfighting” and advocated for its ban.

To make the sport regulated and legal in all US states and worldwide, the company needed to make the sport safer and visually more appealing. This led to the introduction of weight classes and gloves that significantly improved the safety of the events.

How popular is BKFC compared to UFC?

Although BKFC is rapidly growing in popularity, the UFC is way more popular. This is mainly because the UFC has been around since 1993, while BKFC is a relatively new sport that has yet to reach its full potential in the future. However, it’s unlikely that BKFC will surpass the UFC’s popularity in the near future.

The following search trend on Google indicates that UFC is significantly more popular than BKFC: