The belt is worth a lot of money and personal value to fighters when they earn the belt.
Fighters work tremendously hard for 6 to 7 months no stop to get their shot at the belt.
Being in direct competition with the actual champion is the first step of the goal, and the second step is to win the belt.
Only a few get to have the belt on their waist. A fighter needs experience and all the playstyle of the game to win the match and take the belt from the current champion.
Belt has more value to the fighter than to any other person.
How much is a real UFC belt worth?
For any other person, the belt is just a $333,000 piece of decoration, but as you can imagine to the fighter, the belt has a different value.
That is why they put the belt to challenge the top players in their respective weight division.
This is to make sure they are on the top not by avoiding fight but by beating or taking out every single fighter in the division.
Keeping the title comes with a lot of responsibility that is something that fighters have to show to people. They have to earn the belt every single day.
Only then the audience will consider the fighter to be a great champion. This is how the audience slowly starts to become part of the fighter. Every time the fighter puts the title on the line, the audience or fans will cheer for the champion.
To answer the question,
Do UFC fighters keep the belt?
any fighter who earns the belt gets to keep it around with them all time. It doesn’t matter where in the world they are staying. They can get to have the belt around their waist or any position they see fit. Even if the defending match between the fighters is set, the current champion will have the belt.
UFC FIGHTER DEFENDING TITLE BELT
If the defending fight was successful then the belt will get one ruby. Each title defense will add ruby to the belt. This will raise the value of the player wearing the belt and the overall value as a fighter. More defense while having the belt will create a perfect winning streak.
Many big-name fighters went seven or more defensive title fights without losing the belt. This made them more famous amongst people.
As every fight will be spectacular, one player doesn’t want to lose the belt of the challenger, and the challenge will do whatever it takes to get the belt.
The overall theme of the game gets more serious when the fights take place on professional ground.
The Belt System in UFC
The UFC had a different belt system for the MMA fighters.
Here you will learn about the old belt system and the new system.
The belt system matters a lot to the company than fighters.
Each successful title defense means a lot to the fighter, without giving them proper reward the night will lose some part of the value.
UFC now adopted a newer model of belt system that costs less compared to the older model. And it has another way to celebrate the successful title defense put by the champion.
The older method had another rule that fell closely to the other combat sports compared to MMA. but the newer belt system is one of the unique one in the world. This section will cover both of the belt systems and how one differs from another. So, you will get the full picture of the belts and what they mean to the fighters.
The classic belt system in UFC
In the classic belt system, the belts used to look different and the rules were too. It is not the look that has changed but the entire system has been updated.
In the older belt system, if a fighter won the championship, they will get awarded with a new belt. Fighters who fought in the older belt system had more belts than their participation in a title defense.
Has any UFC fighter got 3 belts?
Tj Dillashaw keep 3 Belts
For example, TJ Dillashaw has five belts for three title defenses.
The older system will result in more belts with each title defense. It doesn’t matter if you are the current UFC champion, with title defenses you will get more belts.
Dana White always had an issue regarding this way of handing out belts to fighters. This style of belt system was commonplace in boxing and for a longer time, this was the case in MMA too.
Changing of Keeping Belt system in UFC
The scene of the belt changed with Demetrios Johnson, back in 2017 he made his 10th consecutive title defense, but Johnson ran into a problem with UFC.
According to him, other champions were getting new belts after each fight while he got only one for his championship.
Later Dana White shared his thoughts on this issue by saying this:
“That’s not the way it works. You don’t get a new belt every time. You defend your belt; you keep your belt. If we were handing out belts with every single defense, that would be a lot of money. And to be honest with you, we don’t even have eight more belts. They bring them, we order them as we do events. There’s going to be a backup on his belts, but he’s going to get them.”
This was the only time ever where a UFC fighter had an issue with the belt system. After he reported this issue, he was granted more belts.
But that was the last of the old system, from that point UFC followed a legacy belt system.
The newer belt system in UFC
From 2019, UFC discarded the older system where fighters got a new belt after each title defense.
In 2019, UFC got rid of the older belt system.
New Design of Belt in UFC
Henry Cejudo was the first fighter to win a Legacy belt after defeating TJ Dillashaw. The new design of the belt came with a lot of new features that were more updated compared to the old laws.
The legacy belt will stay forever unlike the older one. The fighter will have two belts on them if they won the championship matches in two different weight divisions. But if they stay in one, they will be only getting a belt.
Instead of getting multiple belts, the newer legacy belts will get updated after every match to compensate for the more belt system.
Now each successful title defense will get celebrated by replacing the while stone on the belt with a ruby.
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Ruby on the Belt of UFC
The ruby will let people know about the successful title defenses of the title.
After a win, the fighter will have to mail their belt’s plate to UFC. Then UFC will return the plate with ruby, that is not only it, the belt will also have the date and location of the title defenses.
Why new Belt was created in UFC?
This belt model was created for UFC to reduce cost but it was never confirmed by the company. Henry Cejudo joked about budget cuts after winning his belt. He went on to say:
“It sucks because the only thing I would complain about is they used to give us a new belt every time you fight. “So now they got a little smarter, ‘We’re just going to add a little crystal now’. Little budget cut, but I see you!
The legacy belt got rid of a lot of old rules about belts and the looks of the belt too. Many didn’t anticipate this move from UFC, but it was a long time coming to a lot of fans.
Since Dana had shown his negative views about the old belt system. It was time to change the tactic. But when UFC got introduced to the new belt system. This grabbed the interest of many people.
Some showed their dislike towards the new belt system and the appearance of the belt while some showed their support of the new changes. Having one belt is much easier for the UFC to make, and they have to spend less money after title defenses.
The legacy belt system is one of the unique belt systems in combat sports. Since all the other major sports go after the old method of handing out the belts to the champions.
But here with the new methods, champions are only allowed to carry one belt and that is alone. For each win, they will get a ruby installed on the belt, nothing more.
Each successful title defense will lead the belt to engrave with the date and location of the fight.
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Conclusion
The belt system has changed for the better. UFC separated themselves from the other combat sports to approach the subject from a different angle than the traditional way.
Now UFC has a legacy belt system rather than the multi belt approach to championship.
Having one belt makes sure the entire fighting championship process faster without spending too much in making a new belt for the champion.
In short, UFC fighters keep their belt after they win the match or defend their title from the challenger. But instead of getting a new belt after winning, they will get to keep the old one but with a bit more customization to show their sign on victory.