UFC New Gloves: What Do Islam Makhachev, Sean Strickland, and Other Fighters Say About Dana White’s Gear

After a lot of controversy and backlash, Dana White-led UFC has finally introduced new gloves. Over the past few years, there have been increasing cases of eye pokes in the UFC. Just two months ago, the Fight Night clash between Chris Weidman and Bruno Silva featured so many eye-pokes that it drew universal criticism with even fighters the likes of Justin Gaethje being outraged. And it seems the UFC has long been cognizant of this, and has been trying out the new glove design.

While White has claimed that the gloves were tried out by fighters, with modifications made to the design per their feedback, not all fighters are happy with the new gear. But first, let us look at the improvements that the UFC claims to have made in 3EIGHT and 5EIGHT as compared to the previous model.

How many ounces are the new UFC gloves?

There are two variants of the new and (allegedly) improved UFC gloves: the 5EIGHT and the 3EIGHT. The former, as the name suggests, is to be used in title fights and other five-round bouts, while the latter is for use in all other (three-round) bouts. There is no difference in both models’ construction, material, and design, except for their color: with 5EIGHT being golden and 3EIGHT being black.

Both, of course, also weigh the same, ranging from 3 to 4.9 ounces (depending upon the size). The promotion officially launched these before the marquee UFC 300 anniversary mega-card in April this year with quite a bit of fanfare and hoopla. To counter the eye-poke menace, the new gloves are designed to make straightening one’s fingers much more difficult, as opposed to the previous edition, in which the resistance was much less.

Constructed mostly out of genuine leather, the new glove features added padding made out of contouring foam layers stacked together for added cushioning, giving added protection to the fighters’ hands. Another notable feature of the new model is the lack of seam on its fingers, to lessen the severity of compounding lacerations and cuts on the opponent’s face. However, one UFC champion and another former champion have already expressed their displeasure at the new design.

Why Sean Strickland and Islam Makhachev are unhappy with the new gloves?

Islam Makhachev thinks the new gloves wore off too quickly, and are too stiff. To make matters worse, the Dagestani champ, gearing up to face Dustin Poirier (in the golden gloves as it is a title bout) at UFC 302 is not a fan of the new gloves’s proclivity to keep a fighter’s fingers (and indeed whole hand) curled since it prevents full mobility, and thus making it marginally more challenging to grapple with an opponent.

“The new gloves are very stiff. They will cause more cuts, as the previous UFC gloves were softer. These are stiffer. They don’t let you fully open your hand just to make sure the fingers don’t extend straight forward,” Makhachev mentioned. While Makhachev was remarkably poised and respectful in his critique of the new UFC gloves, former middleweight champ Sean Strickland gave a harsh review.

‘Tarzan’ came out all guns blazing, and in his typical bombastic fashion, went on a rant against not only the glove and its design but also its designers. “Yeah, they suck. I don’t know who – could we talk to the person who designed these gloves?…” said Strickland. In addition, the former middleweight champ felt that these gloves would not even solve the very problems they were designed to solve: eye pokes and lacerations, as he felt the cause of them had nothing to do with the gloves’ design, and everything to do with the fighters.

“It’s just people creating a problem that we did not have. If you get cut because you get hit in the f*cking head, don’t get hit in the f*cking head, you don’t get cut. You get poked in the eyes because you f*cking open your hands. Don’t open your hands, you won’t get poked in the eyes. It’s just people creating problems that aren’t there,” Strickland told the reporters at the UFC 302 media day.

What are your thoughts on Strickland and Makhachev’s critique of the gloves? Drop your views in the comments below.