New UFC Gloves Should Lessen Eye Pokes
On Friday, the UFC unveiled their new official fight gloves. While the UFC is the front-running promotion in the sport, one thing that seemed to not evolve with their brand was the gloves the fighters have been using at least until now.
“We have been working on these gloves over the past few years with the best designers, engineers, and athletes in the world,” said UFC CEO and President Dana White. “This redesign will truly be a game changer for the entire sport of MMA. These gloves will feel lighter, fit fighters’ hands better, prevent injuries, and provide maximum flexibility during the fights. You’ll start to see these in competition this summer.”
Concerns about the gloves that have been used so far are not just about protecting the hand, but minimizing cuts and of course, eye pokes. Being the leader in MMA after evolving from having no rules at all to the regulated sport that it is, change has to keep up with the overall growth. So it’s about time for new gloves in the UFC.
What’s New
The new UFC gloves are lighter, with reduced seams that caused a lot of lacerations, it’s something UFC Middleweight Chris Curtis seemed happy with. That’s a reaction and feedback from someone who matters, a professional fighter on the current roster who will have to be using these new gloves. The initial fan reaction was not as receptive, because the biggest issue they see watching is the number of eye pokes that happen in the UFC.
Do they address eye pokes?
Unfortunately, the UFC seems to have the most occurrences of eye pokes and that’s not just opinion. 2022 data presented to the Association of Ringside Physicians showed that the UFC was not just the leader in MMA, but the leading promotion to have the most eye pokes in a study presented that year. The findings were published over at Combat Sports Law and reposted by Erik Magraken when the UFC announced the new glove design.
While it was not obviously listed, the new design seems to address the eye pokes according to UFC VP of Consumer Products Ember Morr. In the presentation video shown to the media in attendance, the first thing she said was a concern was the reduction of eye pokes.
In the newer design, the gloves have low profile binding and a tapered finger design. The video shows UFC strawweight Vanessa Demopoulos commenting on how it is easier for her to make a tighter grip, and UFC featherweight Julian Erosa mentions that the current gloves are stiff and how the rounded design of the newer model felt more rounded to his fists.
How gripping can actually help with negating eye pokes may not be apparent to the casual fan, but anyone who has taken a traditional martial art class, like karate or kung-fu might understand. When shown how to make a proper fist, making the fist as tight as possible makes it strong and less susceptible to a break. The tighter you close your hand, the tighter the fist is.
Even when parrying, if the fighter has an easier time closing the hand to deliver their strike the hope is they can do so without poking anyone in the eye.
Will it Work?
The gloves will not officially be used until UFC 302 in Newark, New Jersey but they were used in Dana White’s Contender Series according to Senior Vice President of the UFC Performance Institute Duncan French. French told the media in attendance that asked about eye pokes that they did see a reduction in eye pokes, and that “we hope that that is a consequence of the redesign and the nature of the glove. But we’re all watching moving forward to ensure that this is going to be the case.”
We are all watching, for the safety of the fighters in the UFC, let’s hope that is the case. Check out the full presentation here:
