Whether you are new to mixed martial arts, or a seasoned combat fighter, when it comes time to buy a pair of ufc gloves, it really pays to do your homework. Gloves have been pretty standard for a few years now, being required first in Japan’s Shooto Competition, and shortly thereafter adopted by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship, the predominant MMA group in the United States), and now a requirement for competition virtually worldwide.
The first thing you need to decide, when looking for a good pair of ufc gloves, is what type of glove you are in the market for:
- Fight & competition gloves that meet the requirements for competitive combat, have little padding & are generally quite lightweight.
- Striking gloves are used for practice and have more padding, to protect the fist of the fighter wearing them and the face of the person with whom they are practicing
- Practice grappling gloves also have more padding than competition gloves, to keep fighters safe
- Bag gloves do have the most padding which is good, plus the wrist support, to protect the hands & the wrists of fighters practicing by striking a heavy punching bag
You could choose to purchase a pair of hybrid gloves, which share some features of all three types above, but these are generally never as good for a purpose as a pair designed specifically for that activity; plus, they are usually not up to competition requirements. If you’re serious about MMA, you’ll buy specific gloves for specific purposes.
In terms of which gloves you buy for a specific purpose, it’s always a good idea to stick with the most trusted brands. Competitive fighting gloves are the ones that you need to worry about meeting competition requirements. The UFC organization actually produces and sells MMA gloves, which is especially useful for fight gloves, but they also sell other styles as well.
Everlast is the other top brand for MMA gloves, followed closely by UFC, ProForce, and Century. Still not sure what sort of gloves are right for you? Ask some of the people you practice with for some recommendations. They’ll be glad to help you out and point you in the right direction. After that, just go with what feels good to you and fits your budget.
Why Use UFC Gloves?
Mixed martial arts is a sport requiring intense strength and power, agility and quick reflexes, and raw bravery and fierceness. Drawing from a huge range of fighting techniques, this full contact sport is one of the most challenging and exciting, and is one of the most up and coming athletic activities of our time.
Wearing MMA Gloves is now a widely held standard in mixed martial arts battles, but it was not always this way. They were introduced as a way to protect fighters from injuring their fists when delivering blows. Due to the force behind these strikes, fighters were not using their fists as much as ground techniques. Adding gloves made striking safer, and therefore widened the number of fighting techniques that competitors could use.
MMA gloves were first used by Shooto, a major MMA organanization in Japan. The United States’ UFC competition soon followed suit, its now mandatory to use mma gloves in major MMA organizations and competitions.
Not all gloves are the same; in fact, there are different types of gloves used for competition and practice, and within practice there are different gloves for different purposes. Wearing the right kind of glove for the type of activity at hand is an important part of keeping fighters safe and in good condition for competition and overall health.
In general, fighting gloves have the smallest amount of padding and cushion. Striking gloves, for practice, feature additional padding to protect both the person wearing them and his or her practice opponent. Bag gloves have more padding and extra wrist support due to the force delivered when practicing with a punching bag. All MMA gloves feature open fingers: they are essentially a glove that fits over the palm and wrist, and around the base of each finger but no further.
