UFC returns to China with a fight that could deliver the next challenger to the bantamweight belt. Petr Yan, former 1235-pound champion, and Deiveson Figueiredo, former 125-pound champion, cross paths in the main event of UFC Macau from the Galaxy Arena. In the co-main event, Yan Xiaonan defends his place in the top 3 of strawweight when he hosts No. 9-ranked Tabatha Ricci. However, the prelims have already begun proving why this Night Night is for the ages. Starting with the knockout win for Xiao Long against Quang Le after the brilliant move by Dana White.

After a continuous back-and-forth, Long got the upper hand in the third round of the fight as Quang Le lost his footing and was soon connected with a punch to the face. However, it is Dana White who is earning major praise for this finish since he decided to bring back the old gloves that were being used in the UFC. For those who are unaware, back in April, the UFC announced the introduction of a new fighter glove that will provide increased movement and flexibility while reducing eye pokes and hand injuries. “He said during the introduction of the glove, “This redesign will truly be a game changer for the entire sport of MMA.”

However, after only five months, the UFC opted to discontinue the new gloves and return to the previous fingerless gloves. But why? Well, the switch was made by the Dana White-led promotion just days after Nate Latshaw, an independent researcher and data scientist, published a detailed report revealing a major decline in knockouts since the new gloves were introduced. Comparing the knockout rate of both gloves, a major decline of 8.5% in knockout rates was discovered.

Announcing the change back to the old gloves, the UFC head honcho said, “You know what, there were good intentions with the new gloves. We spent a lot of time, energy and money on them. … It didn’t work out and it is what it is.” Although it is not confirmed whether the research was the exact reason behind the switch, this sounds too good to be a coincidence. It is also worth noting that Dana White’s MMA GOAT Jon Jones also complained about the fit and feel of the new gloves ahead of UFC 309.

Well, whatever the reason may be, the change seems to be working. With such an amazing knockout being landed at the very beginning of the event, fans surely would be looking forward to watching every minute of UFC’s return to China now. In fact, they didn’t take long to praise Dana White’s genius move to bring back the old gloves.

Fans praise Dana White for the return of the gloves

As soon as the fans saw the knockout, they were quick to praise the UFC boss. With many stating how they knew that the old gloves were the problem, and now that they’re gone, they’ll get to witness more such knockouts ahead in the UFC. Sharing their sentiments, they wrote comments like, “The new gloves were the problem,” “Missed the old gloves” and “Good move by the UFC.”

After bringing back the old gloves, fans are surely loving the action that they are getting to witness. Praising the quality of the matchup, fans soon flooded the comments. They wrote comments such as “The ring on fire”, “Crazy fight, 💥💥” and “Macau’s about to see some serious ground and pound.” However, not everyone was fixated on the gloves.

Some fans also talked about the taunts being made by Xiao Long to throw his opponent off his game. Pointing toward the ground, Long provoked his opponent. Something that fans were quick to notice. They wrote in the comments, “And another 👇👇👇👇 AND ANOTHER,” and “Stop pointing at the ground, it’s cringe now.” Well, it looks like UFC Macau surely is giving fans a lot to talk about. But what do you think? Which gloves did you prefer? Let us know in the comments.