“It Doesn’t Help”- Joe Rogan Adamant to Confront Dana White to Solve UFC’s Biggest Issue With Gloves

Heading into UFC 309, Dana White announced a major change to the fighters. Ahead of the mega event at Madison Square Garden, the head honcho revealed that his fighters had been notified to use the old gloves instead of the new ones that were implemented on June 1, 2024. A decision that surely would’ve drawn the ire of Joe Rogan, as he discussed a major issue recently with Jiri Prochazka.

On the latest edition of his JRE MMA Show with the Czech Samurai, Rogan discussed the eye pokes that happened during Prochazka’s recent fight against Jamahal Hill. Both fighters ended up poking each other in the eye mid-fight and had to take time off to recover in the Octagon. This is a major issue in MMA fights, and it’s something that Rogan revealed that he would talk about with Dana White.

But what does he suggest be done? Well, the JRE host believes that the gloves should have the fingers covered. Taking the example of submissions, the UFC commentator stated that nobody locks their fingers; instead, grips are locked in using palms. So, the new gloves should cover the fingers.

He said, “Another thing that I think they should do—and I’m going to talk to Dana about this this week—is cover the fingers. There’s no reason to have these fingers exposed. It doesn’t help anything. It doesn’t help grappling. You never grapple like this, right? (Interlocks his fingers) You never use the fingers; nobody does. You do this (showing the S grip) or you do this (the Gokor grip), or you do different things with your hands, but your fingers always close.”

It is worth noting that the new design of the gloves introduced by Dana White in 2024 would prevent eye pokes and hand fractures. However, it also brought a major decline in knockout rates by bringing it down to 22.9 percent. As a result, they decided to discard it ahead of Jon Jones’ fight against Stipe Miocic. But while the new gloves did not receive many favorable reviews, Joe Rogan was apparently a fan of it or a fan of another version of it.

When Joe Rogan heaped praise on the UFC’s new gloves

The new gloves introduced by the UFC massively impressed Joe Rogan. While the fight world got engulfed in drama, as everyone had differing perspectives on the new gloves, Joe Rogan shared his verdict on it through his podcast. While the JRE host stated that he had some issues with the new gloves, they remained his preferred option compared to the older ones.

On the JRE MMA Show #159 episode with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, the UFC commentator discussed the new gloves. While he expressed his delight with the new gloves, he believed that there were still some improvements needed. In the new gloves introduced by the UFC, a new gap in the structure came to light. A gap that was filled by the gloves created by Trevor Wittman, the brains behind UFC champions like Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman, and Rose Namajunas. So, what was the gap? The same one he mentioned during his podcast episode with Jiri Prochazka: leather covers for fingers. But why did the UFC not go for the gloves by Trevor Wittman? Simply because of money.

The JRE host revealed, “Apparently, Trevor wanted some crazy amount of money for the gloves. Like to sell his design or product or whatever. And he wanted a lot of money apparently, and the UFC wasn’t willing to. They were trying to make a deal with him, and I was telling Dana, ‘Get his gloves; man, they are way better,’ and his gloves are curved. They are curved, so your hand sits like this (curled motion) always.” Wearing Wittman’s gloves causes hands to naturally curl upward. Because the fingers are not stretched, the fights may have had fewer eye pokes. Rogan had tested Wittman’s gloves once and gave it his seal of approval. So, it looks like a true missed opportunity by the UFC. But will they get them now if Rogan convinces Dana White? Let us know in the comments.