Maybe you noticed it and maybe you didn’t, but there was something different about UFC 302. Right there in each fighter’s fist? That was the newest version of UFC gloves.
This was a development that the UFC was very excited about. The day before UFC 300 in April, UFC officials gave a full presentation on the new gloves to media members gathered for the official weigh-ins. We watched a video about the extensive research and development process for the new gloves. We received a brochure highlighting all the exciting new innovations included in these few ounces of protective material. We have to handle them and try them on. (Naturally, the first thing I did was extend my fingers to see if it was possible to poke someone in the eye with this. Turns out, yes, it sure was.)
Then, at UFC 302 on Saturday, the new gloves finally made their UFC debut. Any hope that they would reduce the frequency of eye pokes seemed to fade during the first fight of the night. At the end of the event, several fighters ended up with their fingers in their eyes. One thing that didn’t happen, however, was a single finish via knockout or TKO.
Obviously, it’s too early and the sample size too small to blame this latest statistic on the new gloves. At the post-fight press conference, Several wrestlers said they hoped the new gloves would benefit strikers.with UFC welterweight Randy Brown calling them “puncher gloves.”
“But it won’t do any good for eye pokes,” Brown added. “It really won’t do any good to poke your eyes.”
Randy Brown on the new UFC gloves: It’s definitely a puncher’s glove, but as far as punches to the eyes go, as you can see on Saturday night, it really won’t make a difference. #LaHoraMMA pic.twitter.com/jvGNXIEWeI
– Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 3, 2024
And yes, it seems like eye pokes were everyone’s main concern with the gloves. except the UFC. Perhaps most notable about the introduction of the new glove in April was that the scourge of accidentally (or not accidentally) gouging out your eyes was barely mentioned. Instead, the designers seemed more concerned with cuts and comfort, and also protecting the hands without changing the padding in any way that could significantly decrease or increase knockout rates.
Not that those aren’t important concerns, of course… but what about people’s eyes? When I asked this question, the answer was that the designers hoped that the increased flexibility of the hand would reduce eye pokes. The idea seemed to be that by making it easier for the fighters to form a fist with the new gloves, the fighters would simply choose Keep your hands closed more often, resulting in fewer eye pokes.
One thing about those new gloves, as reviewed by the first fighters to use them in the octagon, is that they make it easier to form a fist. Some noticed less grip and forearm fatigue as they battled the stiffness of the glove. Others said this also made it easier to grab opponents in fighting scenarios.
Again, all good. But on the delicate topic of eyes, do we still hope that everything will solve itself? It matters not only because it’s dangerous to the long-term health and career prospects of fighters to be out there punching each other in the eyeballs, but also because it seems to have the ability to drastically alter the outcomes of fights. UFC women’s bantamweight Lauren Murphy recently pointed out a statistic from an evaluation and officiating course. that pointed out a study in which the fighter who committed an eye poke in the first round of a fight won that fight a whopping 74% of the time.
It is a difficult problem to solve for several reasons. One could argue that referees should be more aggressive in taking points from fighters who can’t keep their fingers still, and that argument has its merits. But then, if you poke someone in the eye in the first round and it diminishes their vision enough to help you knock them out in the second, it’s still worth it.
For years there, accidental eye pokes at UFC fights were all the encouragement commentator Joe Rogan needed to rant about glove design. If only we had something with more curvature, he said, something that would make it more difficult to extend those fingers toward the opponent’s eyes. Then, what seemed like eons later, a new glove design appeared. And instead, that design made it easier to poke someone in the eyes, while ensuring greater hand comfort in the process.
That’s not to say the new UFC gloves are bad. UFC 302 fighters seem to like it overall, though some also said they didn’t care much one way or another. It just seems strange to rework the gloves to address issues that no one else was raising, while at the same time ignoring the larger problem that still remains in front of our faces like an outstretched finger.