Dan Gelston – Associated Press Sports Writer
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — The UFC is set to unveil new gloves designed primarily to prevent the eye pokes that often stop fighters from continuing, marking the first major change to protective gear in more than a decade.
The world leader in mixed martial arts has made the impact-absorbing gloves mandatory for bouts at UFC 302, which begins Saturday in New Jersey. UFC said the gloves should offer fighters enhanced protection, improved fit, greater comfort and maximum flexibility.
There appears to be initial mixed judgment among fighters on the pay-per-view card who used gloves during training camp.
“I think these gloves are more comfortable,” said lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier. “They're easier to grip. You might get more cuts because the padding isn't as dense. I feel like your knuckles are going to go through the padding and you might get more cuts. But I like these gloves better. They're easier to grip. The other gloves are really stiff and straight. Whatever foam they use in these gloves, they're easier to grip.”
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Designed and developed by sports equipment manufacturer Vicis RDI, the gloves will be available in black for the 3Eight Series and gold for the 5Eight Championship Fight Series.
Notable changes include: all of the stitching is now located on the palm side just below the fingers to minimize abrasions and cuts; new padding will make it easier for fighters to keep their fingers in a natural position, which is expected to minimize eye pokes; and finger binding has been removed to reduce bulk and minimize stitches which can cause abrasions and cuts.
There are no longer men's and women's sizing; there are now 10 unisex sizes. Glove weights range from 3 to 4.9 ounces (a reduction of 1 to 1.5 ounces).
Duncan French, senior vice president of the UFC Performance Institute, said his company's research found that a significant eye poke occurs about one in 14 bouts, with the average delay lasting about 50 seconds.
“A poke in the eye obviously disrupts the game,” French said. “We want to maintain the tempo, the rhythm, but we want to finish the game by the rules and regulations, not stop the game for an inappropriate poke in the eye.”
Several recent high-profile fights have been marred by eye punches, such as Chris Weidman's fight against Bruno Silva in March, where the bout was stopped twice due to Weidman's relentless poking. Weidman went on to win by decision after punching Silva twice in the final minutes of the third round.
“We are confident that the new gloves will provide significant benefits to the health and protection of all our athletes,” French said. “We will be committed to monitoring and evaluating the data and our results. If ongoing changes are needed during development, we will make them as necessary. However, we are moving forward with confidence.”
The 35-year-old Poirier, who made his UFC debut in 2011, said he doesn't expect to need to make many glove adjustments ahead of his title fight against Islam Makhachev.
“No, I want to know what's better,” he said.
Makhachev, the Russian boxer who was on a 13-fight winning streak heading into the main event, is no fan of gloves.
“To be honest, I don't really like them,” he says. “After two weeks of use, they get really old. It's kind of hard to open your fingers. The new ones keep your fingers closed.”
UFC soft-launched the gloves late last year during Dana White's Contender Series, but will officially introduce them to all fighters starting with Saturday's bouts at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.
John Neidecker, president of the Ringside Physicians Association and a sports medicine physician, was part of a team that studied eye pokes in UFC, PFL, and Bellator fights from January 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022. The study included a total of 31 fights with eye pokes and 36 fights with eye pokes. The average stoppage time due to eye poke delays was 36 seconds across 256 UFC fights, 89 Bellator fights, and 52 PFL fights.
“Gloves are tricky,” Neidecker says. “They have one function – protection – in the grand scheme of things. A good glove protects you from hand injuries, protects you from wrist injuries. But you also need functionality, especially in MMA. Is there a trade-off between making a glove safer and limiting its functionality?”
MMA gloves haven't evolved much since the company was founded. When UFC held its first event in November 1993, fighter Art Jimmerson competed with one hand and one boxing glove. UFC 14 in 1997 was the first event where the company mandated the wearing of padded gloves.
“When you make changes like this, there has to be a period of normalization,” French said.
At least one fighter wasn't planning on waiting for a new normal to settle in before fight day.
Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, known as much for his controversial comments as he is for his championship fights, slammed the makeover in a foul-mouthed rant.
“We've got a few more stitches,” he said. “People are getting poked in the (expletive) eye because they've got their (expletive) hands open. It's not going to stop unless you put on boxing gloves. People are creating problems that we didn't have. If you get a cut, it's because you got hit in the (expletive) head. If you don't get hit in the head, you don't get a cut. If you get poked in the eye, it's because you've got your (expletive) hands open. If you don't open your hands, you don't get poked in the eye.”
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