Sometimes I wonder if some of you people play a different game.
The difference in HP between lvl 50 and lvl 55 is more like 500 points and it's quite noticeable. Also, I don't agree that gear is "not all that important", it certainly matters a lot if you will fight with a weapon dealing 300-500 damage at lvl 50 and its bigger brother at lvl 55 which deals 500-800 damage. Same for armour. I don't see any top performers with obsolete gear in Blood Gods except the tanks and their case is special. Unholy Guardian is lvl 54, with lvl 53 gear, which is near top quality. The big difference is between lvl 50 and lvl 51 items, after that the gap becomes smaller.
@Avengelyn, by grinder I mean a VERY unfair competition for all new entries in Blood Gods and very intense fighting for pretty much all participants. Leveling was faster but the expenses were also much higher, especially during those few months when the repair of legendaries cost 70-80% more than the maximum amount of gold you could earn for a win. 5-6 serious injuries per gladiator per day were something normal, even with a Doctor. Now it's much more relaxed (and I really like it that way), albeit slower. The fight pairing scheme allows less developed and thus less competitive fighters to face similar opponents rather than going against the entire population of the bracket, which means that you are no longer forced to lose for months until you build and equip your fighter. Of course, you will still need to wait for a while before being able to compete for the top spots but that has always been the case, even in Primus times. The access to legendary gear is now more generous so with decent performance, you can come up with a competitive gladiator in a few months.